Geert Wilders (PVV) proposed in the House of Representatives on Thursday to postpone voting on all budgets across all ministries. The coalition parties are currently negotiating with four opposition parties on the education budget, meaning the vote would be premature.
The coalition aims to cut around two billion euros from education and research, but lacks a majority in the Senate. There, the budget risks being rejected.
The left-wing opposition wants the entire cut removed, but a centrist-right group has proposed an alternative: scrapping 1.3 billion euros of the cuts. Among other measures, this would include abolishing the slow-progress penalty.
Other budgets
If the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science (OCW) receives additional funds, this would need to be offset by cuts to other budgets, such as the Ministry of Health. As a result, votes on those budgets cannot take place today either.
Jesse Klaver (GroenLinks-PvdA) was willing to support the postponement but also called for a debate on the changes. This idea was rejected by the PVV and BBB. Even NSC refused to discuss such amendments in parliament. Additionally, NSC declined to share civil service documents on the impact of the cuts earlier this week.
This refusal drew disapproving boos. The party was largely founded on Pieter Omtzigt’s belief that parliament should have greater oversight and be enabled to hold the government accountable. This was spurred by the childcare benefits scandal, in which ministers and coalition parties allowed little oversight and withheld information.
The VVD was the only party that appeared to leave the door open for a follow-up debate. “Let’s first see what changes are made”, was its position.
Chaos
The left-wing opposition sharply criticised the handling of the situation. Postponing votes at the last minute? “Unbelievable”, said the SP. “This is turning into a mess”, commented GroenLinks-PvdA. The PvdD expressed a preference for taking a clear stance immediately and voting against the government’s policies.
However, the opposition parties involved in the negotiations naturally supported the requested postponement. They also had no objections to debating the matter, but this failed to gain a majority. Meanwhile, D66 has withdrawn from the negotiations, claiming the coalition has been too inflexible. Only CDA, ChristenUnie, SGP and JA21 remain at the table.
Klaver announced he would reintroduce his request for an additional debate on Tuesday. He hopes that by then, VVD (and possibly NSC) will allow parliament to weigh in on potential changes to the budgets.
