New Dutch Cabinet Headed By Rutte Sworn In 10 Months After Elections

New Dutch Cabinet Headed by Rutte Sworn In 10 Months After Elections

King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands swore in the new coalition government headed by Prime Minister Mark Rutte on Monday

PARIS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 10th January, 2022) King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands swore in the new coalition government headed by Prime Minister Mark Rutte on Monday.

The inauguration ceremony, broadcast on public television, took place at the royal Noordeinde Palace in The Hague.

Rutte's fourth cabinet includes 20 ministers and nine secretaries of state representing four parties -- the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), the Democrats 66 (D66), the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) and the Christian Union (ChristenUnie).

There are four new positions in the cabinet, including Minister for Climate and Energy Policy, Minister for Nature and Nitrogen Policy, Minister for Housing and Spatial Planning, and Minister for Poverty Policy, Participation and Pensions.

In the fourth Rutte cabinet, CDA member and former finance minister Wopke Hoekstra heads the Dutch foreign ministry. Kajsa Ollongren from D66, who served as interior minister in the third Rutte cabinet, was appointed as defense minister, while the Ministry of the Interior will be run by female professional soldier Hanke Bruins Slot representing the CDA party.

CDA member and former Minister of Health, Welfare and sports, Hugo de Jonge, will serve as Minister for Housing and Spatial Planning, while doctor Ernst Kuipers� from the D66 party, who previously headed the National Emergency Medical Care Network, was appointed as new Health Minister.

The four parties reached an agreement to form a coalition government on December 13. Negotiations took 271 days after parliamentary elections held in the Netherlands in March 2021.

The first cabinet meeting will be held at 15:00 GMT.