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Alexander Pechtold (Picture: Wikimedia Commons/Pepijn Leupen - D66)
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Alexander Pechtold (Picture: Wikimedia Commons/Pepijn Leupen - D66)
Wednesday, 27 May 2015 - 08:59
D66, CDA set conditions for Cabinet support
With the selection of a new Senate on Tuesday, the Cabinet will very likely need the support of opposition parties to get new plans through the Senate more than ever. The CDA and D66 may be willing to give this support, but only if Prime Minister Mark Rutte meets their conditions.
D66 leader Alexander Pechtold and CDA leader Sybrand Buma made this very clear in the television program Nieuwsuur on Tuesday, the Telegraaf reports. The CDA wants the Cabinet to make clear this week that the gas extraction in Groningen will be reduced further. The D66 wants the Cabinet to quickly come with a plan to reduce taxes, to simplify and to become more environmentally friendly.
According to Pechtold, Rutte can not count on guaranteed support from any side. He accused the Prime Minister of having a "misplaced complacency" in his attitude regarding the coalition having a minority in the Senate. He also stated that Rutte is guilty of wishful thinking when he claims that job opportunities and people's purchasing power are rising.
The two party leaders also made clear that State Secretary Martin van Rijn of Public Health made still lose their trust because of the chaos surrounding the personal budgets. The Kamer will debate with Van Rijn over the problems with the personal budgets next week. Buma said that Van Rijn's position is "absolutely not " certain. Pechtold said that whether he keeps the support of the D66 remains to be seen. A recent poll by Maurice de Hond showed that more than half of Dutch voters think that Van Rijn should resign over this matter.