Dutch PM Mark Rutte, who is also the long serving Prime Minister of the Netherlands, said that his coalition government has collapsed as the parties in the coalition have different views on asylum policies. On Friday, Mr. Rutte said that the parties were unable to find a solution to the migration problem during the talks on the asylum crisis that were chaired by him.
About 18 months ago, four parties in the Netherlands came together to form a coalition government with Mark Rutte as the prime minister. The 56-year-old veteran has assumed office from 2010. This government, under which he assumed the role of PM, has been his fourth coalition.
At a news conference on Friday evening, Mr. Rutte confirmed that the government was no longer stable and that the ministers would continue to function in the capacity of a caretaker cabinet until fresh elections are held. Local outlets said that the elections are expected to be held mid-November.
Mr. Rutte had met King Willem-Alexander to discuss the formation of a caretaker administration. He said that he was unable to reveal the details of his discussion in The Hague as they were confidential.
The four parties who formed the current coalition have been having disagreements on asylum issues for a while. Last year the number of asylum seekers had crossed 47,000 which was a roughly 30 percent increase while the number of applications expected in 2023 is about 70,000.
Mr. Rutte said that the parties had “irreconcilable” differences and that the it was “unfortunately impossible to bridge” the differences in migration policies between the four parties.
Mr. Rutte is the head of the conservative VVD party. His party has been trying to limit the number of asylum seekers who want to migrate to Netherlands. He tried to forcefully implement a plan where relatives of war refugees allowed into the country would be capped at 200 persons per month.
Christian Union, a coalition partner and a pro-family party did not support this migration plan nor did the socially-liberal D66. The Farmer-Citizen Movement (BBB) which became the largest party in the Upper House, after elections in March said that they would not be part of any future government in Netherlands that would be led by Mark Rutte.
