In the Netherlands, four political parties reached an agreement on Monday to form a government coalition allowing Prime Minister Mark Rutte to serve a fourth term nearly nine months after the election. However, the Dutch will have to wait until January to learn about their new government, until the ministries have distributed them.
The four parties reached an agreement on Monday (December 13) to form a government coalition in the Netherlands, allowing Prime Minister Mark Rutte (Mark Rutte) for a fourth term and ending nearly nine months of negotiations.
The outgoing heads of government, the center-right VVD, center-left D66, center-right CDA, and Christen Unie (Conservative Party) have reached an agreement text, which will be submitted to Parliament on Wednesday.
ANP News Agency quoted the spokespersons of Johan Remkes and Wouter Koolmees, who were in charge of the negotiations, as saying: “The text has been accepted.” NOS and RTL TV channels also announced the deal. .
The negotiations started after the general election in mid-March and lasted for 271 days. This is a new record for the Netherlands after 225 days of anarchy in 2017, but it is still a far cry from Belgium’s record of 541 days of anarchy.
Mark Rutte, who has served as prime minister since October 2010, has resigned in January due to scandals related to family allowances, but continues to manage daily affairs. In the legislative elections in March, he was not denied by voters, and his VVD party won without showing weakness, although he hardly survived a motion of no confidence that year.
This ability to survive the political crisis unscathed earned him the nickname “Teflon”.
With this fourth term, Mark Rutte will become one of the European leaders who have been in power for the longest time since the Hungarian Victor Orban who took office in May 2010. The 16 years in office are still far away. German head of state.
The government expects in January
The parties of the new coalition will now submit the agreement to their parliamentary group on Tuesday, and then will debate it in parliament on Wednesday.
The Netherlands is facing a new wave of pandemics, leading to unpopular restrictions, but will have to wait until January to learn about their new government, while the coalition separates the ministries.
In the expected political announcement, the future alliance is expected to announce the extension of free child care services, billions of euros in investment to combat climate change, housing shortages and nuclear energy research, and the establishment of road tolls. no.
According to media reports, the leader of the D66 party, Sigrid Kaag, who won the second place in the election, will be sent back to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
After being appointed to the post in May, she resigned in August because the Parliament criticized the chaotic handling of the withdrawal from Afghanistan and did not see signs that the Afghan army was about to take over the country. Taliban.
However, the current Minister of Health Hugo de Jonge (Hugo de Jonge) is a public figure in the Dutch fight against Covid-19 and should not be renewed, and his press conference with Mark Rutte on Tuesday should be This is his last time in this position.
The country was shocked by the violent riots this year due to the government’s health measures to curb the surge in Covid-19 cases. These measures include imposing a curfew from 5 pm to 5 am (except for essential goods stores) and limiting the number of home visits.
Since the beginning of the epidemic, the Netherlands has recorded more than 2.7 million cases of Covid-19, with more than 19,700 deaths out of a population of 17 million.
Agence France-Presse