2023-07-10 19:38:21
« On the occasion of the inauguration of a new government after the elections, I will leave politics “. The unexpected announcement fell like a cleaver on Monday July 10 in front of an audience of mute deputies, as if stunned. Before the Second Chamber in The Hague, the Prime Minister of the Netherlands in office since 2010, Mark Rutte, announced that he would definitely retire from political life.
Three days earlier, he claimed to keep ” energy and ideas ” to continue. This was before having precipitated the end of his coalition with three other formations following dissension on the migration question, the conservative leader therefore renounces his own succession for the early legislative elections scheduled for this fall. A coup de theater, for this gentleman “ Teflon known for his record longevity in politics – he has led four coalition governments since 2010 – and his ability to overcome scandals.
At the same time, Mark Rutte will cease to be the head of the list of the Volkspartij voor Vrijheid in Democracy (VVD), the liberal right-wing party which he has led for seventeen years. Faced with the press, Mark Rutte then justified himself on his abandonment of politics. ” There has been a lot of speculation over the past few days as to what was driving me. My only answer: the Netherlands “. No doubt the political sequence that has just ended has also made him think. ” It is not without emotion. But it’s also a good thing to pass the baton ».
Fall of the Rutte IV government
After 543 days of a fourth coalition, Mark Rutte found himself unable to find an agreement on the issues of asylum and migration. Mark Rutte, holding a hard line, had issued an ultimatum to the three other parties in the coalition to show firmness.
In particular, he wanted family reunification of refugees to be possible only subject to means testing, without exceeding a ceiling of 200 children. The refusal of two of the three other parties in the ruling coalition, the liberal centrists of the D66 and the small Protestant formation ChristenUnie, which are more flexible on immigration, led to its downfall. Some saw this proposal and the resignation of his government as a maneuver to create a new coalition with the Boer Burger Beweging (BBB), the citizen farmer movement, a new Batavian political force. It was obviously not the case.
A mixed political legacy
Mark Rutte will leave a mixed mark, believes Claes de Vreese, political analyst at the University of Amsterdam. ” In the early years one of his real strengths was his ability to negotiate political agreements, and to do so with both the centre-left and the centre-right “. A strength that has become his weakness. “ He worked with so many different political parties and so many coalitions that it is difficult to determine what his own ideology was. ».
A successor who is struggling to take shape
Within a fragmented political landscape, the favorite to succeed him is struggling to emerge. The pro-farmer BBB party won the most seats in March’s regional elections. Not sure she repeats her performance, according to Claes de Vreese. ” This entity is still unknown in Dutch politics, strong on aspects of agriculture and the environment, but unclear on asylum and immigration, or social protection ».
The extreme right of Geert Wilders (PVV), a former ally of Rutte during a previous coalition could benefit from this. ” Competition on the right and far right spectrum will be very fierce “, continues the analyst.
Among the Social Democrats and the Greens, the names of the top candidates remain unknown. Their alliance could nevertheless grow in size and become the biggest party sums up Claes de Vreese. Same thing with the Christian Democrats whose leader, Foreign Minister Wopke Hoekstrane, will not run again. In Rutte’s own camp, the battle is likely to rage between the Minister of Justice of Turkish origin Dilan Yesilgoz and the leader of the VVD parliamentary group Sophie Hermans, former assistant to Mr. Rutte. Both act as favorites for the application. In the meantime, Mark Rutte will lead the affairs of the country with the help of Parliament.
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