Dutch PM in crisis talks to prevent government collapse

Dutch Prime Minister Rob Jetten was to hold crisis talks with key partners Friday in a last-ditch bid to save his minority coalition government from collapse only nine months after taking power.

An unseemly political row over tax policy has raised the spectre of snap elections in the European Union's fifth-largest economy and weakened the centrist Jetten, the country's youngest-ever prime minister.

Since winning a razor-thin election, Jetten's D66 party has been in an uneasy three-way coalition with the centre-right CDA and the right-wing VVD.

After months of complex debate over tax policy, the D66 and CDA struck a deal with the opposition left-wing PRO party, enraging the VVD.

VVD leader Dilan Yesilgoz, also defence minister, lashed out, saying the coalition would require a "fundamental reset" if her partners sided with the opposition.

"We have been blindsided by a proposal that, in our view, jeopardises the stability of the Netherlands, our economic growth and our business climate," fumed Yesilgoz.

Following a whole day of debate Thursday, the tax deal won a razor-thin parliamentry majority but the VVD voted against the government's own policy, shattering the whole foundation of the coalition.

The PM himself acknowledged there would need to be a "serious fresh start" and called in Yesilgoz and a top CDA official for showdown talks Friday morning.

Jetten, 39, is hamstrung politically as his coalition has only 66 seats in the 150-member parliament, meaning he needs to cobble together votes from smaller parties -- or the opposition -- to pass legislation.

No fewer than 15 parties hold seats in the Dutch parliament, from those defending the interests of people over 50 years old, to a farmers' party.

This means any legislation is the result of many months of squabbling and compromise.

An election would be the third in three years for the splintered country, a key member of the NATO military alliance that also punches above its weight in the EU.

The latest polls show PRO and its youthful leader Jesse Klaver would win any election, ahead of the far-right PVV led by firebrand Geert Wilders.

"This coalition is effectively dead. We just have to wait for the funeral to take place," said Wilders, who sparked elections in 2025 when he pulled his party out of government in a row over immigration.