Just under four months after the parliamentary elections in the Netherlands, there has been a breakthrough in the coalition talks to form a right-wing government.
Geert Wilders, the far-right, anti-Islam icon who came out on top in the November polls, gave up his months-long bid to become prime minister on Wednesday, saying it was the only way to form a right-wing coalition.
The shape of that government began to emerge on Thursday, although it was still unclear who would the lead the country as prime minister.
Kim Putters, the parliamentary negotiator who has led the talks among the potential coalition partners, said Wilders' Party for Freedom (PVV) and three other parties - the liberal-conservative VVD, the agrarian BBB and the centre-right newcomer NSC - had agreed in principle on a minimum level of cooperation.
This loose alliance was being described as an "extra-parliamentary" Cabinet, as it would also include experts from outside of the political parties.
The details on how this alliance would work are still open and yet to be negotiated. No such government has been seen in the Netherlands before, and even long-time observers of Dutch politics were scratching their heads as to what exactly was being put forward.
But Wilders' decision to forego being prime minister was no great surprise in the Netherlands.
It had been clear for some time that two of his potential partners could not accept Wilders as head of government. Still, he had vowed to press ahead despite the long odds.
His Party for Freedom won the parliamentary elections in November with 37 of the 150 seats, but he needed the help of at least two other parties to have a majority. A minority government was seen as untenable.
The talks between the four bickering parties collapsed in January. Parliament then tasked Putters with finding out if there was any hope of achieving of a coalition, which set off a fresh phase of talks.
Despite the progress, there is still a chance that the novel "extra-parliamentary" Cabinet will never come to fruition. Parliament will pour over Putters' proposal next week.
The four parties must also formally agree on a government programme.
In the case of migration and asylum policy, this will probably be simple as all sides want a significant tightening up. However, spending priorities, climate protection and foreign policy are likely to be problematic.
Then suitable people must be found both inside and outside politics who can and want to implement the programme and join the Cabinet. And then there is still the big question of who will become prime minister.
