Sat 08 July 2023:
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte has announced his resignation, after almost 13 years in government.
The differences among the four coalition parties on migration policy were irreconcilable, he said in The Hague on Friday evening.
“It is no secret that the coalition partners have very different views on migration policy,” Rutte told reporters in The Hague. “And today, unfortunately, we have to draw the conclusion that those differences are irreconcilable. That is why I will immediately … offer the resignation of the entire cabinet to the king in writing.”
Opposition lawmakers wasted no time in calling for fresh elections.
Geert Wilders, leader of the anti-immigration Party for Freedom, tweeted: “Quick elections now.” Jesse Klaver, leader of the Green Left party also called for elections and told Dutch broadcaster NOS: “This country needs a change of direction.”
He added that he would offer the cabinet’s resignation in writing to King Willem-Alexander the same evening. Rutte said he regretted having to resign, but described it as “a political reality.”
He did not add whether he would stand again in a new election. The right-wing liberal’s fourth government had been in office since the beginning of 2022. Observers say a new election likely will not take place until November.
The coalition tried for months to hash out a deal to reduce the flow of new migrants arriving in the country of nearly 18 million people.
Proposals reportedly included creating two classes of asylum – a temporary one for people fleeing conflicts and a permanent one for people trying to escape persecution – and reducing the number of family members who are allowed to join asylum seekers in the Netherlands.
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 numbers have put a strain on housing that already was in short supply in the densely populated country.
SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES
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