Former prime minister Ruud Lubbers has called for ‘time out’ in the ongoing cabinet formation talks between the CDA, VVD and PVV and now says he is not in favour of the planned alliance, the Volkskrant reports on Thursday.

Lubbers was the cabinet negotiator who got the three parties round the table to talk about forming a right-wing coalition.
My position has changed from ‘yes, but’ to ‘no, unless’, Lubbers says in a letter to party leader Maxime Verhagen and party chairman Henk Bleker. In particular, Lubbers is concerned about Wilders’ anti-Islam stand which conflicts with the CDA’s support for freedom of religion and education.
Dissidents
Lubbers is the most prominent of all the CDA dissidents to speak out about the cabinet formation talks involving Geert Wilders’ anti-Islam party.
In the letter, which has also been send to CDA MPs, Lubbers calls for time out from the talks to assess the state of play so far. ‘Only when that shows that the talks are going in the right direction will I be able to give my public support,’ the three-times prime minister said.
But Bleker said on the CDA’s website he does not see the need for a break in the talks. ‘I would ask that we wait for the results and restart the discussion then,’ he said.