New elections in the Netherlands?
Rutte’s government collapses over the refugee issue
7/7/2023 9:09 p.m
His coalition partners are opposed: Mark Rutte and his liberal party VVD do not get their way with their proposal to restrict family reunification for refugees. This leads to the next government crisis in the Netherlands within a short time.
The Dutch government of Prime Minister Mark Rutte has collapsed in the dispute over migration policy. The leaders of the four governing parties could not have agreed in the evening on steps to limit the influx of refugees, the ANP news agency reported, citing government circles.
The sticking point at the crisis meeting was a restriction on the family reunification of refugees who are already in the Netherlands and which Rutte’s liberal party VVD had called for. This is the fourth government led by Liberal Rutte. New elections should now be scheduled.
Like other European countries, the Netherlands is grappling with the question of how to deal with the large number of immigrants. The Prime Minister’s centre-right VVD party had proposed tough rules for asylum seekers and threatened to leave the cabinet if the measures proposed by Rutte were not passed. Specifically, Rutte calls for making family reunification more difficult for war refugees. The Christian Democratic party Christen Unie had said it “couldn’t live with Rutte’s proposal,” and Finance Minister Sigrid Kaag’s center-left D66 party reportedly rejected the request.
The Dutch government has been at odds 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 center. Rutte’s previous government resigned in 2021 after a child benefit scandal.
Rutte has been prime minister of the Netherlands for almost 13 years, making him one of the longest-serving heads of government in the EU. After numerous crises, the poll numbers of his current coalition had fallen sharply. In the most recent provincial elections in March, in which the first chamber of parliament – comparable to the Federal Council – was elected, all governing parties posted significant losses. The big election winner was the right-wing populist peasant movement BBB, which became the strongest force right away. The BBB is only represented by one deputy in the Lower House. Great success is predicted for the party in a new election.