Back from never being gone: Rutte IV has taken oath

The new Dutch cabinet led by Prime Minister Mark Rutte has taken the oath. As tradition dictates, the members of the government had their picture taken with King Willem-Alexander. It is the fourth government headed by Mark Rutte.

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The fourth cabinet of Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte is a fact. At around 11.15 am, all ministers and state secretaries were sworn in by King Willem-Alexander. As a snare around the new government, the traditional photo with the king followed at 12 noon. The swearing-in ceremony took place at Noordeinde Palace especially for that photo opportunity. At the usual location, Huis ten Bosch Palace, the cabinet members would not be able to keep enough distance on the platform.

That was not the only impact that corona had on the ceremony. Sigrid Kaag, Minister of Finance, tested positive the day before the ceremony. She was virtually sworn in and was there from her living room, where she is in her isolation.

Like his previous one, the new cabinet of Prime Minister Mark Rutte consists of VVD, D66, CDA and ChristenUnie. But according to the prime minister, this team of ministers has a ‘new impetus’ compared to Rutte III. The prime minister is polishing his image with a striking number of newcomers, including Robbert Dijkgraaf and Ernst Kuipers. And he signs for an equal division between man and woman. The returning ministers from the Rutte III cabinet were not sworn in again. This concerns Mark Rutte himself, Wopke Hoekstra, Carola Schouten and Hugo de Jonge.

Perfect for the job?

With the swearing in, the formation of the Dutch government, almost ten months after the elections and a year after the fall of the previous government, has been completed. ‘Teflon Rutte’, so called because he has been at the helm since 2010 and allows one scandal after the other, will be given another chance. The challenges are not minor.

The Netherlands is still in a lockdown. Rutte hopes to have the right man in the right place with former hospital director Ernst Kuipers. He takes the place of Hugo de Jonge, who can now live up to that other headache file: housing policy. And then Rutte has to the infamous allowance affairover which his previous government fell. And what about the climate files, in which the Netherlands traditionally wants to be a forerunner?

How does this new cabinet differ from the old one? Journalist Dominique Minten explains it in this podcast.

So enough work ahead. But first up the platform for the photo opportunity. Rutte was able to tackle the first challenge, keeping the hairdressing industry friendly. Leading up to the swearing-in, the industry had loudly proclaimed in the media that they hoped to see uncut hairstyles. Their businesses have been closed for more than a month due to the lockdown. ‘We could clearly see that the haircuts had not been professionally blow-dried. And here and there outgrowths were also visible,” a hairdresser gloated to the Dutch newspaper NRC.

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