Overview
- Coalition leaders agreed on Friday to try a restart after more than seven hours of crisis talks that temporarily averted a breakup of Rob Jetten’s three-party government.
- The rupture began with a dispute over a tax-reform package that included a proposed 'millionaire tax' and escalated when the VVD voted against the government’s own bill on Thursday evening.
- D66 and the CDA secured support from opposition parties Pro and Volt for the tax deal, a move the VVD said violated the coalition agreement and which exposed a deep split over whether to seek left‑leaning or right‑leaning allies.
- The government is structurally weak with just 66 of 150 seats in the House, and a fragmented parliament of 17 factions plus almost one-third of seats held by radical and far‑right parties make forming an alternative majority and holding new elections difficult.
- Talks will continue over the weekend as leaders try to agree on working rules and policy limits, with the outcome determining whether policy work on taxes, social spending and defense can move forward or if further crises will recur.