The fourth government of Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte has fallen, according to national media. His coalition government has just collapsed, following particularly tough negotiations between the four member parties, on the question of the reception of refugees. “The government has not reached an agreement on the measures to be taken in order to restrict the influx of asylum seekers. This is reported in The Hague,” writes Dutch public broadcaster NOS on its website. “This is the end of the Rutte IV government,” she adds.
Nicknamed Teflon for his ability to stay in power for twelve years despite scandals – and thus becoming the longest-serving Prime Minister in Dutch history – Rutte took the reins of his fourth coalition in January 2022. , after a record 271 days of negotiations.
In recent days, the head of government, of the liberal right-wing VVD party, had caused trouble among his right-wing and center partners, demanding that they adopt a series of divisive measures around the reception asylum seekers. Mark Rutte demanded that the three other parties in the ruling coalition, the Christian Democrats of the CDA, the centrist liberals of the D66 and the small Protestant party ChristenUnie, agree to establish a quota for the number of children from areas conflicts who can obtain asylum in the Netherlands. Refugees already established in the Netherlands will no longer be allowed to be joined there by their children if a monthly quota of 200 children has already been reached, he also asked.
But two more flexible parties on immigration, the ChristenUnie and the D66, are opposed to this project. The ChristenUnie, a large part of whose voters are in the Bijbelgordel, the Belt of the Bible, a conservative area of ??the country, is because of its religious convictions traditionally opposed to a hardening of the policy of reception of asylum seekers . After initial negotiations on Wednesday, members of the government had again met urgently overnight from Thursday to Friday to discuss the Prime Minister’s proposals, without however reaching an agreement.
Prime Minister Mark Rutte has therefore decided to submit his resignation this Friday evening, July 7. “We unfortunately came to the conclusion that the differences were insurmountable. For this reason, I will soon submit my resignation to the king on behalf of the entire government,” he said at a press conference.
Initially scheduled for 2025, the legislative elections, which determine the composition of the lower house of the Dutch Parliament, should be convened soon, with a possible holding over the next few months.
