VVD elder statesmen divided on Wilders link-up

VVD leader Mark Rutte must first hold exploratory talks with Geert Wilders’ anti-Islam PVV to see if there is enough common ground to make a new coalition possible, VVD stalwart and former defence minister Henk Kamp told a tv chat show on Thursday night.

The PVV came third in Wednesday’s general election with some 16% of the vote.
It is also important to establish if there is enough trust between the two parties, Kamp said, adding that he had worked closely with Wilders before he left the VVD.
But influential former MP Frans Weisglas said he is totally opposed to a coalition with Wilders – who wants the Koran to be banned and is embroiled in a court case about racial and religious discrimination.
Ideals
It would not be faithful to Liberal ideals for the VVD to join up with a party which discriminates against an entire group of the population, he said. ‘Liberals do not judge anyone for wearing a headscarf,’ Weisglas is quoted as saying in the Volkskrant.
A poll for tv show EenVandaag on Thursday night showed 57% of VVD supporters back a coalition with the PVV and CDA. But only 27% of CDA voters agree with a link-up with the PVV.
Maxime Verhagen new leader of the parliamentary Christian Democrats following Jan Peter Balkenende’s resignation, said his party still had to lick its wounds after seeing its support almost halved in the election and assess what went wrong before it could join a new government.