The Zeeland formation is exhausted, the negotiations in Utrecht have failed

Not a quiet holiday in the Zeeland provincial house. The BBB hoped to have finished discussions with the VVD, the SGP and the CDA before the May holidays, but the negotiations are taking longer than expected. The Zeelanders can still be first in the training race, as the end is not yet in sight in the other provinces either. In Drenthe and Friesland, BBB and PvdA cautiously express the hope of having a college on the “platform” before the summer. Groningen even has a full team of assistants ready. Utrecht can go back to the drawing board as BBB and GroenLinks will not continue together. In Overijssel, BBB and GroenLinks are focusing on a coalition agreement, preferably before the summer holidays.

Drenthe: hope for the summer school

In Drenthe, BBB, VVD, CDA and PvdA are in talks led by trainers Johan Baltes (VVD) and Roelie Goettsch (PvdA). Baltes and Goettsch have short lines of communication with the politics of Drenthe. Baltes was an MP from 2007 to 2019 and this year again led a Twitter campaign for the Drenthe VVD. Goettsch was a Member of Parliament from 2015 to 2019 and is currently Chairman of the Board of the PvdA in Drenthe. The choice not to deploy “remote” trainers is a conscious one. “Knowledge of the playing field in Drenthe” is important according to BBB party chairman Gert-Jan Schuinder. Additionally, the Drenthe trainers can “retreat quickly” and are “flexibly deployable”, which was a bit more difficult for scout Astrid Nienhuis from distant North Holland Heemstede. The Provincial Council will meet next week to discuss the formation process. As for Schuinder, a new conference will be on the way in early summer. His target date for the coalition deal is July 1, 2023.

Flevoland: critical youth of CU

After difficult preliminary discussions, BBB, VVD, ChristenUnie, SGP and PVV negotiate on university education in Flevoland. The ChristenUnie is strongly criticized for this, in particular by its own national youth movement PerspectieF. The young people want to talk to the chairman of the Flevoland CU party, Harold Hofstra. The outlook table let Hofstra knows “with some shock” that he heard about the training plans with the PVV. The council invited Hofstra to speak in a podcast. In vain, so far: according Board member Bart Bolhuis lets the Flevolandse ChristenUnie “hardly hear anything” and is “totally not transparent”.

Friesland: maybe ready in June

In Friesland, BBB, PvdA, CDA and ChristenUnie have been forming for almost a month under the leadership of Oebele Brouwer (without a party). The fact that the leader of the PvdA party, Edou Hamstra, wants to publish “2030” as the deadline for nitrogen has caused some consternation in national politics. In the Frisian formation, the release of ‘2030’ did not cause any difficulties. For BBB and CDA the year has never been in Friesland ‘Holy’. Nor has the ChristenUnie made ‘2030’ a breaking point. This means that Hamstra’s ambition of having a new college by the end of June could well be achieved.

Gelderland: forming a “conservative Christian”

Gelderland entered the formation phase last week, with BBB, CDA, VVD, SGP and ChristenUnie. This drew heavy criticism from PvdA and GroenLinks, Gelderland’s third and fourth parties. They don’t want it ‘conservative-christian coalition’, but a coalition of the five largest parties. For this, SGP and ChristenUnie should give way to PvdA and GroenLinks. This does not seem to be happening so far, and Ank Bijleveld (CDA) continues to form without left parties.

Groningen: MEPs are ready

Training has just started under the leadership of Ard van der Tuuk (PvdA), but the outlines of the board are already there. BBB, PvdA, ChristenUnie and Groninger Belang are still negotiating the content of the agreement, but it is now clear who the parties should sit on the board of directors. Apart from former VVD board member Henk Emmens and “gas critic” Susan Top (BBB), these are the experienced MPs Tjeerd van Dekken (PvdA) and Johan Hamster (ChristenUnie) and the current chairman of the Groninger Belang group, Bram Schmaal.

Limburg: attracting the attention of society

Within the Limburg government, informants Jan Schrijen (non-partisan) and Petra Dassen-Housen (CDA) will not be working behind closed doors for the foreseeable future. The doors are even wide open for special “inspiration nights” on May 10 and 12. The informants want to “collect points of attention from Limburg society”. The interested parties can each make a point of attention, on one of the four main themes indicated by the informants. For example on ‘provincial administration and role in society’, or “space, rurality, mobility and energy”. The informants expressly specify that the evenings are not intended for debate.

North Brabant: inspiring citizen manifestos

In North Brabant too, the citizens have their say. Trainer Pieter Verhoeve (SGP) left in a good video be aware that BBB, VVD, PvdA and GroenLinks “see each other” despite the “weak points”. Next week he will organize an open day on training in the Brabant States. According to Verhoeve, everyone is welcome, but certainly those who have already submitted manifestos, ideas or other suggestions. They can then “explain” them and “inspire” the negotiators. So far there are 65 manifest, opinions and means presented. Extinction Rebellion, the employers’ organization VNO-NCW and various political youth organizations, among others, have already informed the trainer in which direction Brabant should go in their opinion.

North Holland: negotiate, negotiate, negotiate

It’s been quiet in North Holland for several weeks. BBB, VVD, PvdA and GroenLinks are still discussing a new board led by Ankie Broekers-Knol (VVD) and Bernt Schneiders (PvdA).

Overijssel: continue to inform with optimism

After a long discussion, the last option in Overijssel was a possible combination of university evenings. BBB, VVD, GroenLinks, PvdA and SGP continue to talk to former scout Wout Wagenmans (Gemeentenbelangen Raalte) as their first trainer. Ingrid Geveke (non-partisan, former municipal clerk of Zwolle) was appointed second trainer this week. Just after the breakdown of negotiations between BBB and GroenLinks in Utrecht on Thursday afternoon, trainers from Overijssel left in a letter know that the negotiating parties see “a good base and shared confidence” in their province. The formation is now moving towards a coalition agreement in broad outline. Preferably before the summer holidays, the trainers are “enthusiastic” engaged for this.

Utrecht: negotiations failed

After a turbulent start, during which the formation was “locked” several times, it was quiet in Utrecht for a while. But that turned out to be the calm before the storm on Thursday. The two biggest parties, BBB and GroenLinks, cannot pass a single door in Utrecht. According to BBB, GroenLinks party chairman Huib van Essen sees “insurmountable differences”, especially when it comes to the construction of wind turbines. According to Van Essen himself, the parties are too far apart on “crucial issues”. He finds the breakdown of negotiations “painful”, but does not want GroenLinks and BBB “to continue to revolve around each other”. The “background discussion notes” on which both parties worked on behalf of informant Anne Lize van der Stoel (VVD) can therefore temporarily return to the filing cabinet. The failure of negotiations between the two largest parties means that forming a majority coalition in the fragmented states of Utrecht can become very difficult.

Zeeland: May holidays are not taken

The BBB, SGP, CDA and VVD have been sitting at the table with trainer Gerard Rabelink (non-party) for a month now. Kees Hanse, chairman of the BBB party hoped earlier on a deal before the May holidays, but it didn’t work out. It is already clear which MPs will implement this deal, if it materializes, on behalf of BBB. This is what farmer Arno Vael and business and organizational consultant Wilfried Nielen do.

South Holland: silence until May 15

As expected, no news from South Holland. Until he reports around May 15, whistleblower Arie Slob will not make any announcements on the progress of his talks with BBB, VVD, CDA, GroenLinks and PvdA.