07/07/2023 23:19 (act. 07/07/2023 23:20)
Prime Minister of the Netherlands Mark Rutte ©APA/ANP
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte has announced the resignation of his government. Differences between the four coalition parties over asylum and migration policies are irreconcilable, the conservative-liberal prime minister said late on Friday in The Hague. He wanted to offer King Willem-Alexander in writing that night to resign from the cabinet. He regretted the step, but said it was “a political reality”. Rutte left it open whether he would run again in a new election.
According to previous media reports, the most recent dispute over the asylum policy dates back to an initiative by Rutte’s conservative VVD party. Two junior parties refused to make it difficult for refugee families to meet. It was the fourth government of the right-wing Liberals. She has been in office since early 2022. Rutte himself has been Prime Minister of the Netherlands for almost 13 years. According to observers, a new election will not take place until November.
Like other European countries, the Netherlands is struggling with the question of how to deal with the large number of immigrants. The prime minister’s centre-right VVD party has proposed tough rules for asylum seekers and has threatened to leave cabinet if Rutte’s proposed measures are not approved.
The Christen Unie Christian Democrat party said it “could not accept Rutte’s proposal”, and Finance Minister Sigrid Kaag’s centre-left D66 party reportedly rejected the request.
The Dutch government has been at loggerheads on the issue since it took office a year and a half ago. A scandal erupted last year when a baby died in a crowded migration centre. Rutte’s previous government resigned in 2021 following a child support scandal.
According to previous media reports, Rutte was prepared in the current case to let the government fail if necessary. Asylum claims in the Netherlands rose by a third to over 46,000 last year and are expected to rise to over 70,000 this year – a new record since 2015.
This is likely to place a significant burden on the country’s asylum facilities. For months last year, hundreds of refugees were forced to sleep outdoors with little or no access to clean water, sanitation or healthcare. Rutte had announced that he wanted to improve conditions at the facility by reducing the number of refugees.
Mark Rutte (56) has been Prime Minister of the Netherlands for almost 13 years, making him one of the longest-serving heads of government in the EU. Since January 2022, he has led his fourth cabinet after coalition talks that lasted a good nine months, making them the longest in the country’s history. A total of four parties were needed to achieve a majority in the second chamber of parliament: the right-wing liberal VVD de Rutte, the left-wing liberal D66, the Christian Democrat CDA and the small Christian Union.
After numerous crises, the numbers in the coalition’s polls have dropped sharply. In the last provincial elections in March, in which the first chamber of parliament was elected – comparable to the Federal Council -, all government parties recorded significant losses. The big winner of the election was the right-wing populist peasant movement BBB, which became the strongest force immediately. The BBB is represented by only one deputy in the Chamber of Deputies. Great success is predicted for the party in a new election.