It became a lot harder on Tuesday after a key potential member walked away from coalition talks, meaning Geert Wilders has almost no chance of forming a majority administration - though a minority government remains a possibility.
Wilders' anti-Islam Freedom party (PVV) won a shock 26% of the vote in November's elections, making it the largest in the Dutch parliament. But its 37 seats left it far short of a majority in the 150-seat assembly, and needing to negotiate.
The leader's preferred option was a four-way alliance with the liberal-conservative VVD of the outgoing prime minister, Mark Rutte; the BBB agrarian protest party; and New Social Contract (NSC), a centrist startup led by the former Christian Democrat Pieter Omtzigt. However, Omtzigt on Tuesday abruptly declared the first round of coalition talks over, saying he was "shocked" by reports on the state of Dutch public finances and would not be part of a government that made spending promises it knew it could not keep.
Experts have said the new government will need to find €17bn (£14.5bn) in structural spending cuts, a bone of contention between NSC and VVD, seen as fiscal hawks, and PVV and BBB, which want to increase public spending.
Denne historien er fra February 09, 2024-utgaven av The Guardian.
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Denne historien er fra February 09, 2024-utgaven av The Guardian.
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