THE HAGUE, Sept. 13 (Xinhua) -- Dutch political party leaders on Thursday would start discussions to form a new government, following a lackluster victory of the outgoing Prime Minister Mark Rutte's VVD party.
The leaders are expected to attend a meeting organized by parliament chairwoman Gerdi Verbeet, instead of meeting the Queen first to give her advice on possible coalition possibilities and a negotiator in the past.
The first meeting of the new parliament is scheduled on September 20, when a debate is scheduled over the formation of the government and the appointment of a negotiator.
The ruling VVD (People's Party for Freedom and Democracy) won 41, ten more than in 2010, out of the total 150 parliamentary seats, while the Labor Party (PvdA) got 39 seats. The number of seats of both parties was much higher than the poll in recent weeks.
The VVD, which also won the previous elections two years ago, was leading the polls for weeks, but the PvdA led by Diederik Samsom made a strong comeback. It finally ended up in a big battle between the center-left and the center-right.
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