Long-term Dutch Prime Minister Departs Politics with No Fifth Term in Sight

Long-serving Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte has announced that he will retire from politics and will not seek a record fifth term in the upcoming elections.

Monday’s announcement comes just weeks after the collapse of his coalition government.

The fourth Rutte government has been in power since the start of 2022. Rutte, of the liberal conservative People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), has been prime minister for nearly 13 years.

His four-party coalition collapsed on Friday over immigration policy. The sticking point in the crisis meeting that led to the government’s dissolution was the restrictions on family reunification for refugees already in the country.

Rutte announced his withdrawal from politics at the start of a parliamentary debate on the political situation. The 56-year-old said it was a personal decision.

“This debate should be about our country,” he said before the start of the session, during which the opposition planned to put forward a motion of no confidence in the prime minister.

On Monday evening, King Willem-Alexander received the Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, Vera Bergkamp, ​​who wanted to inform the head of state of the political situation, the royal family announced.

Rota had already offered the king his resignation and that of his cabinet while discussing the situation with Willem-Alexander on Saturday.

Media reports said that the date for the new elections has not yet been decided, but that they are likely to take place in mid-November.

Since the Dutch generally go to the polls every Wednesday, November 15th is a likely date. Once this is agreed upon, Willem-Alexander can announce the date of the elections and accept the government’s resignation.

With the country commanding the air, some fear that government action could slow, even as the Netherlands tackles immigration, as well as a housing shortage, transition to renewable energy and climate policy.

Environmental regulations for farmers have also been put in place to create serious tensions.

It remains unclear who will be the preferred candidate to succeed Rutte, whether in his own VVD or in one of the other parties.

Rutte is one of the longest-serving heads of government in the European Union, but he has become increasingly unpopular at home after scandals involving his government. He was also accused, even from within his own party, of abandoning the strict right-wing course of his colleagues.

His chief rival, right-wing populist Geert Wilders, said Rutte had succumbed to climate and asylum politics.

For a long time, many Dutch people saw Rutte as a good crisis manager who could keep things together. That legacy is now in tatters, with the asylum row that has toppled his coalition and that fits in the shifting sands of Dutch politics.