The four-time Dutch prime minister, Mark Rutte, has announced his departure from politics after the collapse of his coalition government in a row over immigration.
His decision means the end of more than 13 years in power for the conservative leader sometimes called “Teflon Mark” because scandals that plagued his four different administrations did not stick to him.
The Netherlands’ longest-serving government leader told an emergency parliamentary debate on Monday morning that he would not lead his People’s party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) into general elections expected in November and would instead leave politics after the vote.
Rutte said: “In the past few days, people have speculated about what motivates me, and the only answer is: the Netherlands. My position in this regard is now completely unsuitable. Yesterday morning I took the decision that I will no longer be available to head the VVD list. When a new government takes over, I shall leave politics.”
On Friday night, Rutte announced that his four-party government had broken down over the issue of asylum and “unbridgeable” differences. Immigration has become one of the most contentious issues in the Netherlands since last autumn, when there were desperate scenes at a registration centre in Ter Apel, with people sleeping outside for days and a baby dying in a crowded sports hall.
The coalition collapsed over Rutte’s plans to tighten curbs on reuniting families of asylum seekers, in an attempt to curb numbers or arrivals after the overcrowding scandal.
After the resignation of Rutte’s government, the far-right anti-immigration PVV led by Geert Wilders started campaigning and the flags went out for Caroline van der Plas’s Farmer-Citizen Movement (BBB), a surprise winner in provincial elections in March. The rightwing populist BBB runs on a pro-farmer ticket at a time when the Netherlands must drastically reduce nitrogen-based pollution.
Wopke Hoekstra, the leader of the Christian Democratic Appeal, the traditional farming party, has already said he would not lead the CDA into elections after a collapse in support this year.
At the weekend, GreenLeft and Labour said they would ask their members to form a leftwing coalition going into elections.
The two parties have submitted a motion for the immediate resignation of Rutte, calling for a “business” prime minister to run the caretaker government. The current MPs will remain in place until elections in a “caretaker” capacity, unable to take decisions on controversial issues such as house building, pollution, a cost of living crisis and asylum.
A general election is expected in mid-November and the outcome is unpredictable in the multiparty, fragmented Dutch system, where trust in government is at historic lows.
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July 10, 2023 at 03:54PM
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Dutch PM Mark Rutte to leave politics after collapse of government - The Guardian
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