Justice minister Ivo Opstelten will not be included on the VVD’s list of candidates for the September general election, he told the Telegraaf.

In the Netherlands, ministers can be appointed from either inside or outside parliament.
Opstelten also told the paper he would not rule out the VVD working together with Geert Wilders’ anti-Islam PVV a second time. The coalition alliance between the VVD, CDA and PVV collapsed last month when Wilders pulled out of austerity measures talks.
National interest
Nevertheless, by dropping out of the talks, Wilders had not served the national interest and voters would say what they thought about it at the election, he said.
By contrast, outgoing CDA home affairs minister Liesbeth Spies told a television current affairs show on Thursday night she did not think the experiment with the PVV should be repeated.
The CDA had tried to make a success of the alliance because there was no alternative at the time, Spies, who is competing for the party leadership, said.