Mark Rutte, the longest-serving Dutch prime minister is to leave politics after the next elections after disagreements on immigration policy led to his government’s collapse on Friday.
Rutte, 56, has been prime minister for 17 years and has acquired the nickname “Teflon Mark” as a series of scandals have never seemed to stick to him. However, the “unbridgeable” differences between the four-party coalition over what to do about asylum seekers and their families, have forced Rutte to step down.
Rutte said: “Migration is a major political and social issue. Now that we have been unable to find agreement on this, we have collectively assessed that the political support under the coalition has disappeared.”
Rutte leads the conservative People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy, or VVD, which supported measures to create a two-tier system that would provide more rights for those fleeing from persecution than those fleeing war zones. Specifically, the VVD wanted to cap the number of family members that could join those fleeing war zones to 200 per year. However, the smallest party in the coalition, the ChristenUnie, a Christian-centrist party, objected to the policy which they said would tear families apart.
King Willem-Alexander had to cut his holiday short and flew back from Greece to meet with Rutte. The outgoing prime minister presided over a collapsed Cabinet and resigned in January 2021 before returning to power two months later when the VVD won the elections.
There is speculation that Rutte is being courted for top jobs at NATO and the EU but he is insistent that he will quit politics altogether. When asked whether he would retain his job teaching at a local school in The Hague once a week, he responded “Maybe I will do that for a few days”.
The elections are due to take place in October or November.
Write to us with your comments to be considered for publication at letters@reaction.life
