Work on forming a new coalition government in the Netherlands took a hit on Friday with the resignation of former minister and businessman Hans Wijers, who was backed as cabinet negotiator on behalf of the liberal democratic party D66 on Thursday.

Wijers stepped down after the NRC newspaper published comments he is said to have made in a private app group made up of people keen to see a centrist government.

The paper said he had called VVD leader Dilan Yesilgöz a “shrew” or “harpy” in an app conversation with several others in the run-up to the general election last month.

“In that message I made spontaneous remarks that you would not make if you thought about them properly,” Wijers said in a statement. “Now that those remarks have become public, they could undermine my position as an impartial informateur.”

According to NRC, the app was sent to media entrepreneur Willem Sijthoff and several others, who had launched a campaign for a centrist cabinet in the run-up to the elections.

Wijers is said to have written: “We should actually open the door to [GroenLinks-PvdA leader Frans] Timmermans, then I’ll take part. We need to pull him towards the centre, and also that shrew from the VVD,” referring to Yesilgöz.

On Thursday Wijers had already faced a barrage of questions about other comments he was said to have made on election night about Yesilgöz, which were reported in both NRC and the Telegraaf.

He was then alleged to have called Yesilgöz a liar and said he hoped that the VVD would lose a lot of seats in parliament. On Thursday Wijers said he could not remember the exact situation in which he is said to have made the comments but he apologised to Yesilgöz.

However, on Friday journalist Eric Smit went public with the claim that he, not Wijers, had made those remarks instead.

Wijers and CDA negotiator Sybrand Buma had been given the task of sitting down with D66 and the CDA over the next three weeks to thrash out a preliminary coalition agreement.

The formation process will now continue with Buma as the only negotiator, which is surprising given his party came fifth in the election.

“It is unusual, but I do not find it particularly relevant,” D66 leader Rob Jetten said in a reaction. “I do not want to lose time looking for another scout simply because that person would have to come from D66.”

Both Jetten and CDA leader Henri Bontenbal have repeatedly called for a positive approach to the coalition process and an end to petty infighting in politics.