Fall of the Cabinet: Differences can no longer be resolved; Rutte will meet with king at Huis ten Bosch
Outgoing Prime Minister Mark Rutte has arrived at Huis ten Bosch, the residential palace of King Willem-Alexander, to talk to the king about the fall of his Cabinet. Rutte submitted the resignation of his fourth Cabinet in writing on Friday evening.
Prime Minister Mark Rutte will visit King Willem-Alexander on Saturday to inform him about the fall of the Cabinet. The meeting will take place at the Huis ten Bosch palace in The Hague. Rutte had already written to the king on Friday offering the Cabinet's resignation.
"I will catch up with him tomorrow and explain exactly what happened," the prime minister said about his visit to Willem-Alexander on Saturday. The king must return from abroad for this.
The Dutch Government Information Service did not comment on where the king is on Friday but referred to the royal standard (the King’s flag) at Huis ten Bosch Palace. The flag is hoisted when the king is on Dutch territory. The royal standard did not fly on Friday, which means that King Willem-Alexander is not in the country.
Rutte called the situation "regrettable, but the political reality that we can not avoid" at an inserted press conference on Friday evening. The differences between the coalition parties on the migration issue have proved irreconcilable, the prime minister said. The sticking point has become the family reunification of asylum seekers with residence permits. Rutte stressed that the four coalition parties had jointly concluded at a meeting on Friday that further talks no longer made sense. However, VVD, CDA, D66, and ChristenUnie will continue the talks.
"We were working on a whole package of measures. There was no agreement on that yet. Family reunification was an important part of it," Rutte said. According to him, D66 and CU consider it "very important that family reunification is always possible." The CDA and VVD also agree in principle, Rutte claimed. If the asylum pressure is too great, you have to look at temporarily restricting repeat travelers, he said. These are two conflicting views, Rutte stated.
The Tweede Kamer will debate the fall of the Cabinet on Monday, Prime Minister Mark Rutte said Friday evening.
On Monday at 10:15 a.m., Rutte will make a statement to the Tweede Kamer, the parliament informed. Shortly thereafter, opposition leader Geert Wilders will officially submit a request for a debate on the same day.
Reporting by ANP
