Dutch Queen Beatrix late Thursday asked liberal leader Mark Rutte to form a government, which would be the first in post-war history to rule the Netherlands without a parliamentary minority, according to dpa. Four months after Dutch elections, Rutte's People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) will build a cabinet with the centre-right Dutch Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA). The two parties lack a majority but will be able to reach a one-vote majority with support from the right-wing populist Party for Freedom (PVV). PVV leader Geert Wilders is currently on trial for hate speech and insulting Muslims. Queen Beatrix held a long meeting at the royal palace with Rutte, 43. The CDA and VVD have a combined 52 mandates in the 150-seat Parliament. The PVV's 24 seats will yield Rutte the bare 76 votes needed to form a government. The previous government, a coalition of socialists and Christian Democrats, collapsed in February over disagreements on the Dutch participation in NATO's mission in Afghanistan. Elections were held on June 9, with Wilders' party finishing as the third-strongest. While not participating in government, the PVV is expected to wield considerable influence. The governing coalition has agreed to seek a ban on the full-body burqa worn by Muslim women and to forbid the headscarf in schools and government, as well as a sharp reduction in immigration from Muslim and other non-Western countries. The government's platform also includes budget cuts of 18 billion euros (25 billion dollars) a year, to be achieved through savings in areas including subsidies for cultural activity and development aid.
