Anti-Islam Dutch populist leader Geert Wilders and three other party leaders have agreed a provisional agreement to form a right-wing government, BBC reported.

The final decision on the next Dutch prime minister has not been made, hinting that Wilders is not the main applicant. 

Wilders, who won the Dutch election almost six months ago, has agreed to forgo the chance to be prime minister to help secure this coalition deal.

“We have a negotiators’ agreement, and we will now put it to our [parliamentary] factions,” the Freedom Party leader told journalists.

Wilders’ right-wing Freedom Party (PVV) will join a coalition government with the conservative-liberal VVD, the centrist New Social Contract party, and the agrarian Farmer Citizens Movement (BBB) if the deal happens among them. 

In the November election, Wilders’ far-right PVV secured around a quarter of the national vote after agreeing to temporarily shelve some of its more extreme policy proposals, such as banning the Quran, Islamic schools, and mosques.

Wilders’ election victory sent shocks through European politics, following 14 years of centrist coalition governments led by VVD Prime Minister Mark Rutte, who has continued in a caretaker role since the election. 

However, the initial negotiations to form a right-wing coalition government between the four parties broke down in February. 

By March, Wilders had abandoned his bid to become the next prime minister.

The Dutch scientist, entrepreneur, and retired politician, Ronald Plasterk, who facilitated the earlier coalition talks, is now the frontrunner to be offered the position of prime minister. 

Wilders said the decision has not been finalised by the next prime minister during the coalition. 

The agreement was reached before the latest deadline set by the current coalition negotiators, and Wilders cautioned that adjustments could still be made to the deal. 

The terms of the coalition agreement will then be debated by parliament next week.

The leader of the center-right VVD party, Dilan Yesilgöz, noted that they were establishing the foundation for the next government with this agreement.

There have been few details released regarding the agenda of the four-party coalition, as it is anticipated that they will pursue tough stances on asylum and immigration issues. 

A report by political analysts has stated that the coalition is planning particularly stringent measures regarding migrant workers, though the government would still uphold its international treaty obligations with investments in social security, housing, defense, and agriculture.

The four party leaders who negotiated this coalition deal are not expected to become members of the new cabinet, which will be composed of ministers who are not sitting members of parliament. This so-called “extra-parliamentary” government will still be bound by the terms of the coalition agreement.

The leader of the Farmer Citizen Movement, Caroline van der Plas, described it as “very positive for the Netherlands” that they have reached this coalition agreement.

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