Queen Beatrix began a new consultation round on Monday as efforts to put together a new cabinet for the Netherlands continue.

On Friday, Geert Wilders’ pulled his anti-Islam party out of negotiations to form a right-wing cabinet after four weeks, saying he no longer trusted the Christian Democrats to support his party’s involvement.
The Netherlands has now been without an effective government since February, when the old centre-left coalition collapsed over support for Afghanistan. The general election took place on June 9.

Solo effort
Mark Rutte, leader of right-wing VVD which has 31 seats in the 150 seat parliament, said he would now recommend to the queen that he write a coalition agreement which other parties can then sign up to.
On Monday morning, he rejected a suggestion from Labour leader Job Cohen to write an agreement together. Labour is the second biggest party in parliament with 30 seats.
‘It would take us a lot longer and be a sort of mini formation favouring a cabinet with Labour,’ Rutte told a breakfast tv show.
The queen met the leaders of the two houses of parliament and the deputy president of the Council of State advisory body on Monday. Rutte, Cohen, Wilders and Christian Democrat leader Maxime Verhagen followed on later in the day.
The other party leaders will meet the queen on Tuesday.
On Tuesday afternoon, MPs are due to discuss the failure of talks to create a right-wing cabinet with the queen’s negotiator Ivo Opstelten.