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"Who will resolve this?" questions Dutch daily De Volkskrant, following the April 21 refusal by Geert Wilders, leader of the far-right Freedom Party (PVV), to support government austerity measures designed to reduce the deficit to 2.8% in 2013. This should result in the fall of the coalition government led by Mark Rutte of the free-market Liberal Party.
"I cannot accept that the elderly must pay for Brussels' absurd demands," Wilders explained. He was referring to figures from the Central Planning Office according to which the 14.2 million euros in budget cuts would result in a 3% loss in purchasing power for the elderly, would slow growth and raise unemployment. The cuts concern health-related services, pensions, civil service salaries, VAT, aid to developing countries and tax cuts for home-owners paying off a housing loan.
After seven weeks of negotiations, "the Wilders bomb ticking beneath the Rutte government has plunged the country into a period of uncertainty," says De Volkskrant. Without the support of the PVV, the coalition of Christian Democrats and Liberals is no longer in the parliamentary majority. PM Mare Rutte, is expected to ask Queen Beatrix to dissolve the lower house so that early elections can be called.
"The PVV's new line of defence - 'We do not want budget cuts imposed by Brussels' – is cheeky" writes Dutch daily Trouw, which notes that in 2010, Wilders signed a government agreement that placed a 2.8% ceiling on the budget deficit. The paper is satisfied that the PVV has been "exposed" but does not gloat. "If the crisis were not so serious, the Netherlands would give a sigh of relief," the paper says.
