By Edo van der Goot and Priscilla Slomp
Jul 10, 2023 at 10:21Update: 3 minutes ago
Mark Rutte will not stand for election as the leader of the VVD in the next parliamentary elections. As soon as a new cabinet has been formed, the outgoing prime minister leaves politics.
“I have made the decision that I will not be available again for the VVD,” Rutte said in a statement about the fall of the cabinet in the House of Representatives on Monday morning. His announcement came unexpectedly.
“There has been a lot of speculation about what would motivate me and the only answer to that is the Netherlands. My position is completely subordinate to that.” Rutte made his decision on Sunday morning, with “a lot of emotion and mixed feelings”. He said this after his statement to the press.
The subject that has stayed with him most in all his years as Prime Minister is the disaster of flight MH17.
Rutte will remain caretaker prime minister for a while
When a new cabinet takes office, Rutte will leave politics. He will therefore remain caretaker prime minister for a while. Rutte will then have served thirteen years as prime minister and seventeen years as political leader of the VVD.
On Friday evening, the Rutte IV cabinet fell because the parties could not agree on asylum policy. Many opposition leaders blamed Rutte for this. He is said to have brought the migration talks that had been going on for months to a head this week. For example, he threatened on Wednesday evening with a vote in the Council of Ministers on limiting family reunification.
A motion of no confidence was also being prepared against the outgoing prime minister. PVV, BBB, SP, PvdA and GroenLinks, among others, wanted Rutte to leave the tower immediately.
VVD has to look for a new party leader
Now that Rutte is no longer the leader in the upcoming elections, the VVD must look for a successor after seventeen years.
Justice Minister Dilan Yesilgöz was added last Saturday Op1 asked if she would be available if Rutte decided to stop. “We’ll see then,” was her reply. She wanted to let everything sink in first and “take it one step at a time”. Yesilgöz was in the House of Representatives for the VVD from 2017 to 2021.
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2023-07-10 08:21:00
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