Dutch parliamentary polls set for Nov 22
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Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said he would be leaving politics in the wake of the collapse of the government.
PHOTO: AFP
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THE HAGUE - The Netherlands said on Friday that it will hold snap general elections on Nov 22 in what will be a transformative vote to replace the country’s longest-serving prime minister, Mr Mark Rutte.
Dutch voters will go to the polls to elect a new Parliament following the collapse of Mr Rutte’s four-party coalition a week ago over a bitter argument about the asylum seeker policy.
Mr Rutte, the leader of the centre-right People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), stunned the Netherlands by announcing on Monday that he was quitting politics altogether after 13 years at the helm.
With the leaders of other Dutch coalition partners also resigning following the implosion of the government, it promises to be a seismic election in the euro zone’s fifth-largest economy.
“Lower House elections will be held on Wednesday, Nov 22. This was decided by the Cabinet on the recommendation of Interior Minister Bruins Slot,” Mr Rutte’s Cabinet said in a statement.
“In choosing this date, the preparation time for political parties, the feasibility for municipalities and the preparations by the Electoral Council were taken into account,” the Cabinet said.
Mr Rutte’s VVD will be aiming for another shot at the premiership, most likely under Turkish-born Justice Minister Dilan Yesilgoz-Zegerius – who herself came to the Netherlands as an asylum seeker – while a party of Dutch farmers will be aiming to shake up the system.
The Farmer-Citizen Movement (BBB), formed after months of rowdy rallies against plans to cut livestock numbers for environmental reasons, won senate elections earlier in 2023.
November’s elections are likely to be closely watched in Europe, where Mr Rutte, the European Union’s second longest-serving leader after Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban, ensured the tiny Netherlands punched above its weight.
The Dutch Premier took a lead role on issues ranging from euro zone bailouts, where his frugal stance often put him at odds with southern Europe, to the war in Ukraine.
But European capitals will likely have to wait to see the shape of things to come, with coalition negotiations in the messy Dutch political system often taking several months.
The previous coalition, Mr Rutte’s fourth since he assumed his role in 2010, only took office after a record-breaking 271 days of negotiations – and then collapsed after just 1 ½ years. Had the coalition stayed in place, the next elections would not have been due until early 2025.
The Dutch coalition collapsed earlier in July
Mr Rutte, nicknamed “Teflon Mark” for his ability to survive political scandals, said on Monday that it was time to “pass the baton” and he would quit politics
On the same day, Foreign Minister Wopke Hoekstra said he was standing down as leader of the Christian Democratic Appeal party, Mr Rutte’s political bedfellow in the coalition.
Then on Thursday, Finance Minister Sigrid Kaag said she was quitting
The smallest coalition partner, the ChristenUnie – a Christian Democratic party that draws its main support from the staunchly Protestant “Bible Belt” in the central Netherlands – and D66 had strongly opposed Mr Rutte’s asylum plan. ChristenUnie’s most prominent minister in Mr Rutte’s Cabinet – Ms Carola Schouten – also announced this week that she would stand down. AFP
