Dutch firebrand Geert Wilders says willing to forgo PM job as he struggles to form government

Dutch politician Geert Wilders, whose anti-Islam, anti-immigration rhetoric swept him to a stunning victory in the November election, said he is willing to give up his claim to become prime minister in a bid to push forward talks to form a right-wing cabinet.

“I can only become prime minister if all parties in the coalition support it,” Wilders said in a post on social media platform X. “That was not the case,” he said on Wednesday.

“The love for my country and voter is great and more important than my own position,” Wilders said.

Wilders, who delivered a shock election win on November 22, has since been struggling to cobble together a majority to form a government. His attempts to forge alliances with rivals suffered multiple setbacks, with some proposing unconventional forms of coalition building to overcome the deadlock.

Still, his far-right Freedom Party won around 25 per cent of parliamentary seats, making it the biggest party in the lower house.

Leaders of the four coalition parties, including Wilders, have agreed to stay out of the next cabinet, Dutch public broadcaster NOS reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter.

Wilders did, however, later add another comment on X to say that, one day, he still wants to be prime minister.

“Don’t forget: I will still become premier of the Netherlands,” he said. “With the support of even more Dutch people. If not tomorrow, then the day after tomorrow. Because the voice of millions of Dutch people will be heard!”

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Wilders’ Freedom Party, the People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy, the centre-right New Social Contract, and the Farmer-Citizen Movement are instead in talks to form a so-called “extra-parliamentary cabinet” that is based on a less-binding coalition agreement, the broadcaster said.

A version of an extra-parliamentary cabinet was last seen in the Netherlands in the 1970s. It could include cabinet members who are not members of a political party and operates on a less-binding coalition agreement.

Under such a pact, despite being the leader of the largest party, Wilders would not ascend to the premiership.

“I would like a right-wing cabinet,” Wilders said, reiterating his demands for less asylum and immigration.

Additional reporting by Associated Press