Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s job is on the line as he prepares for a no-confidence vote in The Hague Monday after pulling the plug on his coalition last week amid infighting over migration policy.
(Bloomberg) — Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s job is on the line as he prepares for a no-confidence vote in The Hague Monday after pulling the plug on his coalition last week amid infighting over migration policy.
Rutte, 56, said Friday that he planned to stay on as caretaker prime minister until an election due in November at the earliest. But some of his former coalition partners are considering voting to oust him, according to people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be named discussing private conversations.
If all opposition lawmakers vote against the prime minister, they’ll need to add support from just a handful of coalition deputies to bring down the prime minister. The opposition will submit the motion during a parliamentary debate on cabinet’s collapse, Green Left Party Chairman Jesse Klaver announced via Twitter late Sunday.
“Rutte deliberately let the cabinet collapse. He acted not out of long-term interest, but out of his own political interest,” Klaver said. That is why the Green Left and Labor parties “are submitting a motion of no confidence against Rutte tomorrow,” he said, adding that the opposition’s goal is to appoint a technocrat as caretaker until a snap election can be held.
Bringing down his fourth coalition was initially seen as a power play by Rutte, 56, who has been in office for 13 years. His opponents said he’d pushed the country into a snap election in order to strengthen his own political position, betting that a stand on immigration would shore up his support.
But the move may backfire if his former partners deprive him of the platform of the prime minister’s office in the run up to an election. Even if he is forced out on Monday, Rutte could still return to power if his party can claim victory in the election.
While the opposition is calling for a technocratic premier to take Rutte’s place, constitutional scholars have questioned whether that’s possible. If Rutte does leave, Finance Minister Sigrid Kaag might be next in line as the first vice prime minister in the outgoing cabinet. She would be the first woman to lead a Dutch government.
The parties were close to a migration deal at the start of the week before Rutte abruptly insisted on imposing limits on the right for refugees from war zones to join family members in the Netherlands, people familiar with the matter said.
Lawmakers were called back from their summer recess to attend the debate which is due to begin at 10:15 a.m. local time.
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