After a two-hour cabinet meeting Prime Minister Dick Schoof has confirmed that he will travel to the Huis ten Bosch in The Hague to offer the resignation of the cabinet to King Willem-Alexander. This follows the collapse of the four-party governing coalition earlier on 3 June. The right-wing nationalist Party for Freedom (PVV) withdrew from gov't after party leader Geert Wilders failed to get his coalition partners to agree to a new 10-point asylum programme (see 'NETHERLANDS: Wilders Pulls PVV Out Of Coaltion Amid Asylum Rule Row', 0845BST and 'NETHERLANDS: Cabinet To Meet @ 13:30CET To Assess Path After PVV Withdrawal', 1001BST).
- Schoof will remain in place as caretaker prime minister, while all non-PVV ministers will retain their positions in an administration that will deal with day-to-day functions of gov't. This is until snap elections and a new gov't comes to power. A minimum of around two months is needed between the collapse of a gov't and election day to allow for preparations and campaigning, although in practice this can take several months.
- Wilders has confirmed that he will remain in frontline politics, saying, "In fact, I am going to become prime minister of the Netherlands next time and ensure that the PVV becomes bigger than ever in the next elections." As part of the previous governing agreement, no party leaders were allowed to sit in the cabinet, instead remaining on the parliamentary benches.
- Schoof called the PVV's withdrawal "irresponsible and unnecessary", with an eye on the NATO leaders' summit being hosted by the Dutch gov't in The Hague at the end of June.