Following the appointment of former Labour PParty (PvdA) minister Ronald Plasterk as the second post-election scout, tasked with sounding out parties on policies and potential partners, the prospect of a swift deal in reaching a governing coalition (which were already slim) have narrowed further. Pieter Omtzigt, leader of the centrist, 'good governance' New Social Contract (NSC) stated earlier in the week that, "All in all, the NSC faction now sees no basis for starting negotiations with the Party for Freedom (PVV) about a majority government or a minority government,".

• Omtzigt has raised concerns that, despite PVV lawmakers and ministers swearing allegiance to the constitution that parts of the right-wing party's manifesto risked breaking the Netherlands' democratic norms. He stated that PVV leader Geert Wilders would have to make clear what part of his manifesto he would be willing to "put on ice", and even then said he was concerned about democratic backsliding. However, Omtzigt did not formally rule out the prospect of an agreement in the future.
• The most feasible routes to a gov't are, firstly, a PVV-led minority coalition involving the NSC and the agrarian populist Farmer-Citizen Movement (BBB) propped up by the centre-right People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD). The second route is a centrist coalition involving the second-placed group in the election, the centre-left GreenLeft-Labour alliance, the NSC, the VVD, and the liberal Democrats 66.

Source: Election Commission, MNI