Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte announced his resignation on Friday over a dispute with his ruling coalition over how to curb immigration.
The Dutch ruling coalition collapsed on Friday after tense talks among the four parties in Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s ruling bloc failed to settle on an agreement on ways to curb migration, a senior politician said.
Henk Kamp, a senior member of Rutte’s People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy told Dutch television: “It is a great shame that the government has fallen now.” The failure of months of negotiations on the thorny issue could now force a general election.
Rutte’s Cabinet gathered on Friday in a hastily scheduled meeting. “We talked for a long time, we came here tonight because we did not succeed,” Defense Minister Kajsa Ollongren told reporters as she walked into the Cabinet meeting.
Meanwhile, opposition lawmakers wasted no time in calling for new elections.
Geert Wilders, leader of the anti-immigration Party for Freedom, tweeted, “Quick election today.” Jesse Klaver, leader of the Green Left party also called for elections and told Dutch broadcaster NOS: “This country needs a change of direction.”
Rutte, the Netherlands’ longest-serving premier, chaired evening meetings on Wednesday and Thursday that failed to produce an agreement. More talks were held on Friday night, and he declined to answer questions about the issue at his weekly press conference before the discussions.
“Everyone wants to find a good, effective solution that also does justice to the fact that it’s about human life,” Finance Minister Sigrid Kaag, a member of the centrist D66 party, said before the talks begin.
The discussions highlighted the ideological divisions in the coalition between the coalition parties that do not support a strict crackdown on immigration – D66 and fellow centrist party ChristenUnie, or Christian Union – and the two that favor a tougher one. steps – Rutte’s conservative People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy and the Christian Democrats.
The coalition has been trying for months to come up with an agreement to reduce the flow of new migrants arriving in the country of nearly 18 million people. The proposals reportedly include the creation of two types of asylum – a temporary one for people fleeing conflicts and a permanent one for people trying to escape persecution – and reducing the number of members of family allowed to join asylum-seekers in the Netherlands.
Last year, hundreds of asylum-seekers were forced to sleep outside in poor conditions near an overcrowded reception center as the number of people arriving in the Netherlands exceeded available beds. Dutch aid agencies provide assistance.
More than 21,500 people from outside Europe sought asylum in the Netherlands in 2022, according to the country’s statistics office. Tens of thousands more moved to the Netherlands to work and study.
The figures put a strain on housing already in short supply in the densely populated country.
Rutte’s government is working for a law that would force municipalities to provide shelters for newly arrived asylum-seekers, but the legislation has yet to pass both houses of parliament.
The prime minister also highlighted the European Union’s efforts to slow down migration in the 27-nation bloc. Rutte visited Tunisia last month with his Italian counterpart and the president of the EU executive commission to offer more than 1 billion euros in financial aid to save the North African country’s struggling economy and to prevent emigration from its shores to Europe.
Rutte’s coalition government, the fourth he has led, took office in January 2022 after the longest coalition negotiations in Dutch political history.
There could be an election for the 150-seat lower house of the Dutch parliament later this year amid a polarized and splintered political landscape. Rutte’s Cabinet will likely remain in office as a caretaker administration until a new government is formed.
During the provincial elections earlier this year, a populist pro-farmer party put Rutte’s party in second place. The defeat is seen as a possible incentive for Rutte to do his best to hold his coalition together until the end of the term in 2025.
Henk Kamp, a senior member of Rutte’s People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy told Dutch television: “It is a great shame that the government has fallen now.” The failure of months of negotiations on the thorny issue could now force a general election.
Rutte’s Cabinet gathered on Friday in a hastily scheduled meeting. “We talked for a long time, we came here tonight because we did not succeed,” Defense Minister Kajsa Ollongren told reporters as she walked into the Cabinet meeting.
Meanwhile, opposition lawmakers wasted no time in calling for new elections.
Geert Wilders, leader of the anti-immigration Party for Freedom, tweeted, “Quick election today.” Jesse Klaver, leader of the Green Left party also called for elections and told Dutch broadcaster NOS: “This country needs a change of direction.”
Rutte, the Netherlands’ longest-serving premier, chaired evening meetings on Wednesday and Thursday that failed to produce an agreement. More talks were held on Friday night, and he declined to answer questions about the issue at his weekly press conference before the discussions.
“Everyone wants to find a good, effective solution that also does justice to the fact that it’s about human life,” Finance Minister Sigrid Kaag, a member of the centrist D66 party, said before the talks begin.
The discussions highlighted the ideological divisions in the coalition between the coalition parties that do not support a strict crackdown on immigration – D66 and fellow centrist party ChristenUnie, or Christian Union – and the two that favor a tougher one. steps – Rutte’s conservative People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy and the Christian Democrats.
The coalition has been trying for months to come up with an agreement to reduce the flow of new migrants arriving in the country of nearly 18 million people. The proposals reportedly include the creation of two types of asylum – a temporary one for people fleeing conflicts and a permanent one for people trying to escape persecution – and reducing the number of members of family allowed to join asylum-seekers in the Netherlands.
Last year, hundreds of asylum-seekers were forced to sleep outside in poor conditions near an overcrowded reception center because the number of people arriving in the Netherlands exceeded the available beds. Dutch aid agencies provide assistance.
More than 21,500 people from outside Europe sought asylum in the Netherlands in 2022, according to the country’s statistics office. Tens of thousands more moved to the Netherlands to work and study.
The figures put a strain on housing already in short supply in the densely populated country.
Rutte’s government is working for a law that would force municipalities to provide shelters for newly arrived asylum-seekers, but the legislation has yet to pass both houses of parliament.
The prime minister also highlighted the European Union’s efforts to slow down migration in the 27-nation bloc. Rutte visited Tunisia last month with his Italian counterpart and the president of the EU executive commission to offer more than 1 billion euros in financial aid to save the North African country’s struggling economy and to prevent emigration from its shores to Europe.
Rutte’s coalition government, the fourth he has led, took office in January 2022 after the longest coalition negotiations in Dutch political history.
There could be an election for the 150-seat lower house of the Dutch parliament later this year amid a polarized and splintered political landscape. Rutte’s Cabinet will likely remain in office as a caretaker administration until a new government is formed.
During the provincial elections earlier this year, a populist pro-farmer party put Rutte’s party in second place. The defeat is seen as a possible incentive for Rutte to do his best to hold his coalition together until the end of the term in 2025.
(AP)
