Wouter Koolmees, the railway chief tasked with initiating talks on forming a new Dutch coalition government, said on Thursday morning that compromises will have to be made.

Koolmees, who met the leaders of the biggest parties on Wednesday, told reporters he would “make my mind up a bit this evening” about what should happen next. But one thing, he said, is clear: “There will have to be some compromises in the coming days.”

All the party leaders who met Koolmees on Wednesday agreed that there needs to be a “stable” coalition. A centrist alliance made up of the VVD, CDA, D66 and GroenLinks-PvdA – four of the five biggest parties after last week’s vote – could count on 88 seats in the 150-seat lower house of parliament and is election winner Rob Jetten’s preferred choice.

But Dilan Yeşilgöz, leader of the right-wing VVD, said repeatedly on Wednesday that she has no intention of joining a coalition with the left-wing greens of GroenLinks-PvdA – a position that would rule out such a four-party alliance.

She insists that a right-wing coalition made up of the far-right JA21, the VVD, CDA and D66 is the best option and most accurately reflects the election results. However, such a coalition would have only 75 seats, falling short of a majority and could only count on 24 backers in the senate.

JA21 leader Joost Eerdmans told reporters on Wednesday that a fifth party would be needed for stability and urged the other three parties to consider bringing in the far-right PVV. But D66, the VVD and CDA have already ruled out working with Geert Wilders, whose withdrawal from the outgoing coalition triggered the election.

Eerdmans also underlined the differences between his party and Jetten’s D66, particularly on the environment and immigration.

JA21 states in its manifesto that the Netherlands should close its borders to all refugees as a matter of the “highest priority”. The party also wants to scrap permanent residency permits, tighten border controls, reopen the Groningen gas fields and opposes building more solar and wind farms.

The NRC also points out that JA21, which has grown from one to nine MPs as the PVV lost support, may not be as stable as it appears.

Party switches

Eerdmans himself has moved between several parties during his career, number two Annabel Nanninga is a former Forum voor Democratie supporter, and number three Ingrid Coenradie recently quit the PVV.

According to the Financieele Dagblad, D66 and the CDA are putting subtle pressure on Yeşilgöz to change her tune. Jetten told reporters after his meeting with Koolmees that it is time “to leave the campaign rhetoric behind”, while Christian Democrat leader Henri Bontenbal also stressed the importance of putting the country above party interests.

On Thursday, Koolmees is meeting the leaders of the smaller parties – all of which have between one and three seats in parliament. He is due to present his report to parliament on November 11.