Politics · Netherlands · 4 hrs ago
Dutch coalition crisis deepens after tax vote
Dutch Prime Minister Rob Jetten’s coalition is in crisis after a dispute over a tax plan.
The three-party minority government includes Jetten’s D66 party, the Christian Democrats (CDA) and the right-wing VVD.
D66 and CDA backed changes proposed by left-wing opposition parties to pass the tax plan, while the VVD voted against it.
The VVD says its partners have shifted too far left, and its leader, Dilan Yesilgöz, says the government cannot continue this way without political and policy changes.
Jetten and the CDA’s vice premier urged the parties to keep talking, but an eight-hour crisis meeting did not settle the dispute.
The coalition will meet again this weekend at De Zwaluwenberg, and the parties could decide to submit the government’s resignation to the king.
Dutch Prime Minister Rob Jetten held crisis talks Friday with leaders of his coalition partners, but the meeting failed to resolve tensions.
The dispute intensified after D66 and CDA lawmakers backed opposition amendments that helped pass a tax package without the VVD.
The VVD, the coalition’s third partner, opposed the tax plan and demanded changes to how the coalition works.
VVD leader Dilan Yesilgöz said the minority-government arrangement could not continue in its current form.
The three parties planned to continue talks over the weekend, with a possible cabinet resignation also raised.
- Who
- Prime Minister Rob Jetten and leaders of coalition partners D66, VVD and CDA.
- What
- Coalition crisis talks failed to resolve tensions after D66 and CDA backed tax-plan amendments without the VVD.
- When
- Friday, November 13, 2026; the dispute followed a parliamentary vote on Thursday night.
- Where
- The Hague, Netherlands.
- Why
- The VVD was angered that D66 and CDA worked with center-left opposition parties to pass the tax package.
VVD
D66 and CDA
Tax vote
VVD
The VVD opposed the tax plan and was angered that its partners secured support for it with opposition parties.
D66 and CDA
D66 and CDA agreed to amendments proposed by PRO and Volt that helped pass the tax package.
Coalition direction
VVD
The VVD said the coalition could not continue this way and called for political and policy changes.
D66 and CDA
D66 and CDA had worked with the left because they found it easier to reach agreements there.
D66 and CDA lawmakers backed amendments from PRO and Volt, helping the tax package pass without VVD support.
Jetten met the leaders of VVD and CDA for crisis talks that lasted eight hours but did not resolve the dispute.
The coalition parties planned to continue intensive talks at De Zwaluwenberg.
- Coalition
- Three-party minority administration: D66, VVD and CDA
- Tax-plan vote
- Passed in the Dutch parliament on Thursday night
- Crisis talks
- Eight hours on Friday in The Hague
- Next talks
- Planned for the weekend at De Zwaluwenberg
10 sources
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What people are saying
No one is waiting for endless political squabbling in The Hague or for new elections, and we must do everything in our power to find a way forward together.
Our work is far from finished.
I didn’t expect the CDA and D66 to take such a huge turn to the left.
This minority cabinet experiment has failed; we cannot continue like this.