THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) – If Angela Merkel wants to see how tough it can be to form a multiparty government, the German chancellor need only look across the border at the Netherlands, where four-party coalition talks are still grinding on more than six months after the election.
Day after day, the leaders of the four Dutch parties have filed stoically into the ornate Stadhouderskamer room in the Dutch parliament where, watched over by hand-woven mural tapestries depicting Roman deities, they are gradually hammering out the policies of the next government coalition.
They’re getting close, but consensus-driven Dutch politics takes time.
Egos must be massaged, compromises brokered and, if they agree to work together, ministerial portfolios divvied up. The talks resumed Tuesday afternoon.
On his way in, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said he did not have any tips for Merkel.