VVD leader Mark Rutte, tipped to win the June 9 general election, said on Sunday night he wants a new cabinet in place by July 1.
Forming a coalition in the Netherlands traditionally takes months, not days, and involves a detailed agreement.
However Rutte said he wanted a coalition agreement of some 10 A4 pages, including the main reforms the new government plans to implement and their financial implications, he said.
Budget
And, he said, he hopes the next cabinet will be able to draw up the 2011 spending plans, which are always published on the third Tuesday in September.
If no cabinet has been formed, the outgoing one prepares the budget.
With just two days to go before voting begins, outgoing prime minister Jan Peter Balkenende has attacked his former coalition partner Labour for failing to be decisive on the economy.
In an interview with news website Nu.nl, Balkenende said it had been impossible to make an agreement on spending cuts with Labour. ‘It is not difficult for Labour to stimulate the economy. But when it comes to making cleaning up the finances, thats when things get tricky,’ he said.
And he said it would be difficult to form a new coalition involving the labour party because the party ‘always opts to maintain spending levels and opt for tax increases’.
