The centre-right government led by Prime Minister Mark Rutte will submit its resignation letter to King Willem-Alexander today.
Prime minister Mark Rutte called “Teflon-Mark”.
The nickname describes the prime minister’s skills in coping with political crises. 56-year-old Rutte is Holland’s longest-serving prime minister and one of Europe’s most experienced politicians. He leads the center-right VVD party.
This time the long experience did not help. The Rutte IV coalition government collapsed due to disagreements about immigration yesterday, Friday. The government formed by four parties lasted a year and a half.
– The differences were insurmountable, said the Prime Minister at the press conference.
In the last compromise proposal, the family reunification of war refugees supported by the Prime Minister’s party could have been limited in the event that the reception centers are full.
However, the motion fell due to the opposition of the Christian Democrats and the Protestant party that supports it, as well as the center-left party D66. The matter was reported, among other things, by the Dutch broadcasting company NOS.
Immigration divides parties
Questions related to immigration have come up in the political debate almost everywhere in Europe. In Holland, there was an uproar about the issue last summer, when a baby placed in a refugee center died and hundreds of people were moved to spend the night outside due to overcrowding in immigration centers.
The conservative party led by Prime Minister Rutte has pushed the upper limit of those who can enter the country on the basis of family reunification to two hundred people per month. The quota model, called an “emergency brake”, did not suit the Christian Democrats.
– Children must be allowed to live with their families. It is a basic value, said the leader of the ChristenUnie party, the Deputy Prime Minister Carola Schouten.
The debate on immigration is expected to continue in the Netherlands, as far-right parties have long demanded a much stricter immigration policy in the Netherlands than the current one.
The number of asylum applications in the Netherlands is growing rapidly. The number of applications last year totaled 47,000, a third more than the previous year. This year, it is anticipated that approximately 70,000 applications will be submitted.
Elections are scheduled to be held in the Netherlands in November. Until then, the government will continue as the delivery ministry.
Reuters