The Dutch opposition will have a unique opportunity to form a new cabinet after Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte announced his resignation on Friday following the failure of his coalition government to agree on measures to limit the influx of asylum-seekers into the Netherlands, Filip Dewinter, a Belgian lawmaker from the city of Antwerp, told Sputnik on Monday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 10th July, 2023) The Dutch opposition will have a unique opportunity to form a new cabinet after Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte announced his resignation on Friday following the failure of his coalition government to agree on measures to limit the influx of asylum-seekers into the Netherlands, Filip Dewinter, a Belgian lawmaker from the city of Antwerp, told Sputnik on Monday.
"Now that Rutte goes for good and will not participate in the next election, his party, the liberal VVD (People's Party for Freedom and Democracy), does not have a leader waiting in the aisle to replace Rutte, and so short before the election, it becomes a doom scenario for the VVD," Dewinter said, adding that now was a unique opportunity for Geert Wilders and his hard-right Party for Freedom (PVV) to set up a new cabinet after the election.
The expert noted that the issue of asylum-seekers and illegal migration is likely to become the focal point of the general election in November sparked by the Rutte government's resignation.
"I certainly hope that the hard-right parties, the PVV of Geert Wilders and the Forum for Democracy of Thierry Baudet will be successful in their campaign to stop mass immigration and controlling the issue of refugees, but their added results will probably not be sufficient to form a government," he said.
Dewinter added that the opposition parties would need the assistance of the VVD, which is likely to "remain in its position of kingmaker" thanks to strong poll results, despite its previous lack of success in tackling the migration problem.
The expert also noted that the new government will have to face another urgent issue, which is agriculture. The preliminary results of the agrarian Farmer-Citizen Movement (BBB) are still unknown, but they are likely to get strong support from voters, he said.
"It is very possible that a Right coalition manages to reach an agreement with the BBB and the Liberals and forms a government in November. After all, Rutte's first cabinet was supported from the outside by Geert Wilders' PVV. Parties such as the PVV and BBB have wind in the sails," the expert predicted.
Dewinter also noted that Mark Rutte could be a perfect candidate for the next NATO secretary general after the end of Jens Stoltenberg's mandate, as he said he would retire from politics after his resignation.
On Friday, Rutte presented his government's resignation to the king after the ruling coalition broke apart following its failure to agree on measures to limit the influx of asylum-seekers into the country.
The Netherlands Broadcasting Corporation (NOS) reported later on Friday that the Dutch Electoral Council said that parliamentary elections were likely to be held in the country in mid-November.
