Dutch PM Mark Rutte to leave politics after coalition collapse

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Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte has said he will quit politics after his coalition government resigned due to a split over immigration.

Rutte, the EU’s second-longest-serving leader after Hungary’s Viktor Orban, told parliament on Monday he would step down after his four-party coalition collapsed last week over differences over asylum policy.

The Dutch prime minister, who has been in power since 2010, said he would not run for a second term in the upcoming elections. Rutte’s moderate VVD is the largest party in the Dutch parliament and has led four different coalitions.

Rutte’s downfall came after he tried to implement a stricter immigration policy following an increasing number of asylum seekers in the Netherlands. This has led to reception centers collapsing and in one case a child died last year.

The housing shortage in the densely populated country of 18 million had put pressure on the government to cut arrival numbers.

The VVD wanted to reduce the number of asylum seekers who could bring their families to the Netherlands. Only those who are in personal danger, such as because of their political views or sexual orientation, will be allowed to do so.

D66, a more progressive liberal party, and Christian Union, a centrist party, rejected the plan.

Rutte, dubbed the “Teflon Mark” by the Dutch media for his ability to avoid crises, chose to depart this time, even though he had managed to overcome many difficult moments in the past.

In the same year, a critical report on his handling of earthquakes caused by gas discoveries in the vast Groningen region revealed that thousands of homes and other buildings had been damaged. The Hague is paying billions of euros in compensation and to secure homes.

Rutte’s previous government had fallen after running a welfare program that denied child benefit to parents from minority backgrounds, based on an algorithm that predicted they were more likely to be fraudulent.

As a result, hundreds of children were snatched from their parents and families were suddenly burdened with debt, including heavy repayment deadlines, that drove some adults to commit suicide.

Rutte’s exit from politics may have been his last political calculation.

Sarah de Lange, a professor of politics at the University of Amsterdam, said she was facing a no-confidence vote in parliament, which she was likely to lose, following the collapse of her four-party coalition on Friday. “He did it to protect his reputation,” he said in reference to his announcement that he would quit politics altogether.

De Lange said, “The opposition parties were keen to support the motion and it would have been an individual vote, with some D66 MPs also backing it and risking toppling it.”

Sjoerd Sjoerdsma, an MP from D66, said that Rutte “deliberately raised his hand, ruined his cabinet and brought complete chaos to our country”.

Farid Azarkan, leader of Denk, a party campaigning for minority rights, said it was the “right decision at the wrong time”.

Rutte, 56, said he made the decision on Sunday morning without pressure from his party. “I do it with mixed feelings, emotions. I love the team very much. But it feels good.”

He will remain caretaker prime minister with his cabinet until a possible election in November.

He said he knew what he would do next but ruled out the prospect of the top post in the EU. Root is taking one morning off every week to teach social studies at a school in The Hague. “Maybe I’ll do that for a few days,” he said.