Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and his entire cabinet resigned on Friday to take political responsibility for a scandal involving investigations into child welfare payments that mislabeled thousands of parents as fraudsters. In a nationally televised speech, Rutte said he had informed King Willem-Alexander of his decision and vowed that his government would continue to work to compensate affected parents as soon as possible and to fight the coronavirus. .
“We believe that if the whole system has failed, we must all take responsibility, and this has led to the conclusion that we have just offered the king the resignation of the entire cabinet,” Rutte said.
Photo by REMKO DE WAAL / ANP / AFP via Getty Images
The movement was seen as largely symbolic; Rutte’s government will remain in office until a new coalition is formed after the March 17 elections in the Netherlands.
Rutte’s resignation comes at the end of a decade, although his party is expected to win the election, putting him in first place in line to begin talks to form the next government. If he succeeds in forming a new coalition, Rutte would most likely become prime minister again.
The Netherlands is the third European country to be thrown into political uncertainty this week coronavirus crisis. In Estonia, the government has resigned over a corruption scandal, while the ruling coalition of Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte risks collapsing after a small partner withdrew its support.
Rutte said earlier this week that his government will be able to continue to make tough political decisions in the fight against coronavirus, even if it is in care mode. The Netherlands is in a tight deadlock until at least February 9, and the government is considering imposing a night extinguisher over fears of new, more contagious variants of the virus.
“I say in the Netherlands: our fight against coronavirus will continue,” Rutte said.
On Thursday, the leader of the Dutch opposition Labor Party resigned because he was minister of social affairs in a governing coalition led by Rutte, when the country’s tax office implemented a tough policy to prosecute child welfare fraud.
Lodewijk Asscher’s decision put additional pressure on Rutte ahead of Friday’s cabinet meeting. Ministers were to decide on their reaction to a harsh report issued last month, entitled “Unprecedented Injustice”, which said that fiscal policies violate “the fundamental principles of the rule of law”. The report also criticized the government for providing information to parliament about the scandal.
Many unjustly accused parents were thrown into debt when tax officials demanded a refund. In the past, the government apologized for the tax methods, and in March allocated 500 million euros ($ 607 million) to compensate more than 20,000 parents.
One of these parents waited by parliament while the Cabinet met and said he wanted him to resign.
“It’s important to me because the government acknowledges, ‘We made a mistake and we take responsibility,’ because it’s something that happened to us,” Janet Ramesar told The Associated Press.
Rutte plans to lead his Conservative Party for Freedom and Democracy in the March election, and polls suggest he will win the most seats. This would put Rutte, who has been in office for a decade at the head of three different coalitions, in first place in an attempt to form the next ruling coalition.
Deputy Prime Minister Kajsa Ollongren, who holds the post of interior minister, said at the start of Friday’s meeting that “it is very important to be responsible and also to show political responsibility, and we will discuss this in the Council of Ministers.” Ministers today. “