The coalition that has governed the Netherlands collapsed Tuesday after 11 months in power in a dispute over asylum policy.
Geert Wilders, the leader of the PVV party, withdrew from a coalition of conservative parties in which his party had been the largest.
“I signed up for the strictest asylum policy, not for the downfall of the Netherlands,” Wilders said, according to CNN. “And our responsibility for this cabinet, therefore, ends here.”
“The PVV promised voters the strictest asylum policy ever, aiming to make it the strictest in all of Europe,” Wilders said.
“We proposed a plan to close the borders to asylum seekers, to stop them, to send them away. To stop building asylum-seeker centers, to close them,” he said.
He said coalition partners refused to go along.
“I could do nothing other than say that we are now withdrawing our support for this cabinet,” he said.
“No signature for our asylum plans. PVV leaves the coalition,” Wilders wrote in a translated message on social media platform X.
He told the BBC he expects to become prime minister of the Netherlands “and ensure that the PVV becomes bigger than ever in the next elections.”
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Wilders had pledged to bring the “strictest migration policy ever” to the nation, according to The New York Times.
In May 2024, his coalition said it would implement “the strictest asylum admission policy and the most comprehensive migration control package ever.”
But on Tuesday, he said his party, which supports banning the Quran, closing Islamic schools, and halting asylum requests, did not get the support it needed to follow through on his promises.
Prime Minister Dick Schoof said he will remain in office until the nation’s next election, when a new government will be formed.
Current estimates are that elections will not be held until October.
Although the PVV had the most seats, it needed support from the People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy, the Farmer Citizen Movement, and the New Social Contract over six months of talks to form a government with 88 seats in the 150-seat legislature.
To avoid raising issues in the coalition, Schoof, who is not a member of any of those parties, was chosen as prime minister. Shoof on Tuesday criticized Wilders for collapsing the government.
“I think it’s unnecessary and irresponsible,” he said.
Wilders, however, said implementation of agreed-on immigration controls was moving too slowly.
He also added new proposals to completely halt granting asylum, to end family reunions for those granted refugee status, and to deport all Syrians who had either applied for asylum or been allowed to stay in the Netherlands on temporary visas.
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