Trainer Richard van Zwol is expected to receive the ministerial candidates this week. The parties agree on the distribution of the positions and the people who will occupy them. The names have not yet been officially announced.
The PVV will have the portfolios of Migration, Public Health, Economic Affairs, Infrastructure and Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation. The VVD supplies the Ministers of Finance, Justice, Defense and Climate. NSC won Home Affairs, Foreign Affairs, Social Affairs and Education. The BBB gets Agriculture and Housing.
About the Author
Raoul du Pré is the political editor-in-chief of De Volkskrant.
This does not mean that all the appointed ministers are members of one of the parties involved: to guarantee the “extra-parliamentary” nature of the cabinet, it has been agreed that half of the ministers will come “from outside.” It’s still unclear what exactly that definition entails.
A more detailed explanation of the further course of the training process will be provided later this week. In any case, Prime Minister-designate Schoof will visit House Speaker Martin Bosma on Wednesday for an “introductory meeting.”
to the platform
On Monday, trainer Van Zwol stated that the intention remains for the cabinet to be sworn in on June 25 and appear on the steps of the Huis ten Bosch palace for the traditional group photo. The government will then be able to make its statement in the House of Representatives the following day. Prime Minister Schoof should then travel to the EU summit later that week, where important decisions will be made on the distribution of senior European officials for the coming years.
Before the cabinet is sworn in, all ministerial candidates must appear before the House of Representatives to be questioned about their suitability, motivation and obstacles that could stand in their way of becoming a minister. This is a new step in the training process imposed by the House of Representatives last year.
Formally, the House cannot block a ministry (ministers are appointed by the king), but anyone who cannot count on the prior approval of a large part of the House will face uncertain political times.
Four deputy prime ministers
The four parties that form it have a deputy prime minister, because Prime Minister Schoof is considered an impartial candidate. The BBB deputy, Mona Keijzer, still a candidate for prime minister during the campaign, confirmed this to the newspaper on Tuesday Fidelity that he will get a position on the new team. She will therefore become deputy prime minister on behalf of the BBB.
The insiders also have Sophie Hermans (VVD) and Eddy van Hijum (NSC) as deputy prime ministers. The latter will also become Minister of Social Affairs. MP Fleur Agema’s name had been circulating for weeks for the PVV’s top job, but the NOS reported on Tuesday that MP Gidi Markuszower is now Wilders’ candidate.
Agema, right-hand man to party leader Wilders in the House of Representatives for seventeen years, said on Tuesday that he is “available” for a ministerial position. In any case, she is considered Wilder’s candidate for the Ministry of Health.
VVD deputy Eelco Heinen will likely become finance minister, an important position for the VVD because the party sees control of public finances as one of the spearheads of the new cabinet.