Far-right Dutch leader Geert Wilders threatened on Monday to force early elections if a landmark immigration bill did not pass quickly despite the country’s top advisory body calling for an overhaul.
For months the shaky coalition governing the Netherlands has been bickering over legislation that aims to reduce asylum claims in the country.
The cabinet has been waiting for advice from the Council of State (RvS) advisory body, which delivered a critical opinion earlier Monday.
The RvS advised the government not to submit the bill to parliament in its current form.
Its non-binding advisory opinion said the bill would likely not lead to a reduction in asylum seekers and would increase the pressure on immigration officials and the courts.
Wilders, head of the far-right Freedom Party (PVV), said the bill must be introduced “quickly and unchanged”, dismissing the advice from the “unelected bureaucrats” at the RvS.
Diederik Boomsma, from coalition partners New Social Contract (NSC), suggested the legislation could “just be changed”, drawing a furious response from Wilders.
“You are playing with fire,” he wrote on X, formerly Twitter, addressing the NSC and its party leader Pieter Omtzigt.
“No more changes… otherwise the voters may have their say.”
After running out clear winners in November 2023 elections, the PVV has the most MPs in the coalition and could force a political crisis and fresh poll if it withdrew.
Prime Minister Dick Schoof has not commented on the RvS opinion but told reporters on Friday that “you always take it seriously” when the advisory body delivers its view.
All eyes are now on the cabinet to see if it will send the bill unchanged to parliament or risk the wrath of Wilders by altering it.
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