Dutch Government Falls After Coalition Partners Clash Over Immigration Policy

The Dutch government has collapsed after coalition partners clashed over the immigration policy and failed to reach a deal. This will now trigger new elections.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte

Source : Getty

The Dutch government has collapsed after coalition partners clashed over the immigration policy and failed to reach a deal. This will now trigger new elections, Reuters reported. Mark Rutte, who tendered his resignation as the Prime Minister of Netherlands, was country's longest-serving premier. Following his resignation from the top post, the country will face a general election later this year. "It's no secret that the coalition partners have differing opinions about immigration policy. Today we unfortunately have to conclude that those differences have become insurmountable. Therefore I will tender the resignation of the entire cabinet to the king," Rutte said in a news conference, as quoted by Reuters.

Rutte also said that he will run a caretaker government until the next elections which will focus on tasks which include continued support for Ukraine in their war effort. As he announced his decision to step down, opposition leaders demanded fresh elections.

“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,” leader of the anti-immigration Party for Freedom Geert Wilders, said in a tweet.

Rutte's decision came after he presided over late night meetings on Wednesday and Thursday that failed to result in a deal on migration policy, as reported by The Guardian. “Everybody wants to find a good, effective solution that also does justice to the fact that this is about human lives,” finance minister Sigrid Kaag, a member of the centrist D66 party, said before the talks began, as quoted by The Guardian.

The discussions emphasised ideological divisions in the coalition between the partner parties that do not support a strict crackdown on migration. The coalition tried for months to reach a consensus to mitigate the flow on new migrants arriving in the country. 

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