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A Dutch primary political party has said it will engage in talks with anti-Islamic leader Geert Wilders to form a coalition cabinet at this time.
The New Social Contract has declared that Wilders’ election manifesto risked violating the Dutch Constitution.
Mr Wilders’s Freedom party (PVV) last week shocked critics by winning a dramatic general election victory but failed to secure a majority.
To become prime minister he wants the support of the other parties.
The Netherlands, a founding member of what is now the EU, has the bloc’s fifth-largest economy.
The leader of the New Social Contract (NSC) party, Pieter Omtzigt, said parliamentarians and ministers would “swear allegiance to the Constitution” if PVV policies violated it anyway.
“In general, the NSC faction now sees no explanation as to why it should engage in negotiations with the PVV on a majority or minority government,” he said.
“We have consistently stated in recent months that we will not make any concessions to these principles,” Mr Omtzigt said. “Here we draw a hard line.”
The NSC is the only major party that could have signed up for a cabinet with the PVV.
Without Omtzigt, Wilders will most likely try to form a far-right minority coalition, subsidized by the conservative People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), which has governed without competing with him.
Wilders – known for his anti-Islamic rhetoric – used his election crusade to publicise measures such as banning mosques and Islamic schools.
But as has been noted, this would undermine the constitutional right of citizens to freely practice their religion.
Before the vote and after his victory, Wilders said he was in a position to negotiate and strike deals with other parties to become prime minister. He even went so far as to say that he would set aside his promise to ban the Koran.
This left some party leaders confused, though.
Omtzigt said that before his party can start coalition negotiations, the PVV has to “make it clear which debatable issues of its election program are no longer relevant. “
He also predicted “many political obstacles” for both sides to reach an agreement, and gave the example of Wilders holding a referendum on the “Nexit” to leave the EU.
Mr Wilders has not yet commented on the remarks.