Dutch government collapses after failing to reach consensus on migration policy

Europe, News July 9, 2023 , by IRIA No Comments

Netherlands’ four-party coalition government resigned after just a year and a half in office. Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte sent his resignation to the King on July 8 as the coalition government collapsed because of differences related to migration and asylum policies.

Prime Minister Mark Rutte, one of Europe’s second-longest serving leaders, visited the king to turn in the resignation of his four-party coalition. Rutte and his government will remain in office in a caretaker capacity until a new ruling government takes over. Rutte’s resignation came right after the meeting between the four coalition partners who failed to reach a consensus on the country’s migration and asylum policy.

“This evening we have unfortunately reached the conclusion that the differences are insurmountable. For this reason, I will shortly present my written resignation to the king in the name of the whole government,” Rutte told a press conference after the coalition’s meeting. “It is no secret that the coalition partners have very different views on migration policy,” Rutte, 56, told reporters.

The most likely outcome of the government’s collapse is an early election in the upcoming months, which was originally scheduled for 2025. It is also possible that the king intervenes in the situation and asks another political leader to try to set up a coalition, but given the parliamentary arithmetic that seems highly unlikely.

*^{Leader of Dutch far-right and largest opposition party PVV Geert Wilders in the Hague, Netherlands, on March 17, 2021. (Image Credit: Reuters/Eva Plevier)}*

Dutch opposition leaders were quick to comment on the situation asking for early elections. Geert Wilders, leader of the anti-immigration Party for Freedom (PVV) called for “quick elections”. Jesse Klaver, leader of the Green Left party, also called for early elections and said that “This country needs a change of direction.”

Netherlands’ asylum crisis

Asylum applications in the Netherlands jumped by a third last year to more than 46,000, and the government had projected they could increase to more than 70,000 this year. Asylum and migration have always been difficult issues for Rutte and his government. The issue became severe over the recent decade due to the rise of right-wing parties on the Dutch political spectrum.

The outgoing Prime Minister Mark Rutte, the longest-serving prime minister of the Netherlands, is the leader of the country’s center-right VVD Party, which received 22% votes in the 2021 elections becoming the largest among the four-party ruling coalition. During his election campaign, Rutte had repeatedly promised a “structural solution” to the country’s migration and asylum policy.

In the latest attempt to address the problem, Rutte called for the number of war refugees allowed into the Netherlands to be capped at 200 per month, and threatened to topple the government if the measure did not pass.

*^{Refugees wait outside at the main reception center for asylum seekers, in Ter Apel, Netherlands, on August 26, 2022. (Image Credit: Reuters/Piroschka van de Wouw)}*

Two junior partners of the coalition government, the Christen Unie and Democrat 66 (D66), were staunchly opposed to the proposal. The two left-leaning parties demanded stricter measures against the incoming migrants and the existing asylum seekers.

In the event of early elections, Rutte would hope his party could emerge from a fifth successive vote as the strongest party in the country and try to form a new coalition.