Opposition parties dismiss king’s speech as road to stagnation

Opposition parties have accused the Dutch government of failing to make choices and leading the country into a “stagnation” following a king’s speech packed with appeals to the Dutch traditions of compromise and co-operation.

In a long and wide-ranging speech, King Willem-Alexander said “communality” could be an “antidote to polarisation” and said solutions needed to be found on issues such as nitrogen pollution, the housing crisis and social unrest around asylum.

But opposition parties said the cabinet had failed to set out a clear vision or take the initiative in coming forward with ideas to fix the problems.

“Politics is about making choices,” said Joost Eerdmans, leader of the right-wing conservative JA21. “The king can say democracy isn’t 50% plus one, but that’s how it works in practice. They’ve forgotten to turn left or right, or else they can’t.”

Jesse Klaver, leader of the largest left-wing opposition party Pro, said the king’s “fine words” could not disguise the fact “that the cabinet is rudderless.”

“We are in a permanent process of forming the government because the minority government can’t agree on which way to take the country in.”

Lack of direction

In the weeks before the opening day of parliament the three coalition parties D66, CDA and VVD were unable to agree what concessions to make to opposition parties in the budget deal that finance minister Eelco Heinen will deliver on Tuesday.

Instead the minority government will have to keep negotiating with opposition leaders to find the 10 seats it needs in the lower house and the 16 seats in the Senate to pass its laws.

Mirjam Bikker, leader of the ChristenUnie, said the king’s speech showed a lack of direction from the coalition parties.

“If you want to make progress, you have to decide which way to go,” she said. “We’ve seen a few concessions on minor things like cuts to healthcare, but my concern is that without a sense of direction it’ll just be a few trinkets.”

Geert Wilders of the far-right PVV criticised the speech for failing to address people’s concerns about fundamental issues such as the rising cost of living.

”Lots of money is being spent on Europe, development aid, nitrogen and the climate, while we see the country is changing and we can’t pay the bills,” he said. ”The sooner this cabinet falls, the better.”