Christian Democrat MPs on Tuesday cancelled and then restarted a meeting to vote on whether to form a governing alliance with the right-wing VVD which will be supported in parliament by the anti-Islam PVV.

The decision was due to start at 10.30 but was cancelled just minutes before MPs were due to meet. The meeting then went ahead shortly after 13.00 hours.
Party chairman Henk Bleker told reporters that ‘justice had to be done’ for the minority who opposed the alliance.
Two of the party’s 21 MPs are known to be opposed, but have come under considerable pressure to fall into line. They are known to feel supported by the result of Saturday’s CDA ratification conference at which 32% of delegates voted against the tie up with the PVV.
However, on Monday night, acting party leader Maxime Verhagen told reporters ‘there are no dissidents any more’, leading commentators to speculate that a behind the scenes deal had been done.
Concessions
Insiders told the Telegraaf that the CDA has discussed making concessions to the two. For example, they say the party will harden its attitude towards the PVV as the coalition matures.
The duo – Kathleen Ferrier and Ad Koppejan – are concerned in particular about the new coalition’s perceived intolerance of other religions because of the PVV factor.
According to the Financieele Dagblad, another option would be to allow the dissidents to opt out of voting in favour of particular policies they oppose.

Stability

Without their support, the proposed right-wing coalition will only be able to count on 74 of the 150 seats in parliament. This will force cabinet negotiator Ivo Opstelten to tell the queen he has not been able to form a stable coalition.
‘What ever they choose to do, they will make a lot of people unhappy,’ said social psychology professor Roos Vonk in the Volkskrant. ‘But I think in the end they will fall into line. I have the impression that loyality and unity are the driving forces within the party.’