The Netherlands' long-serving prime minister, Mark Rutte, announced on Monday that he will retire from politics and will not stand as a candidate in a new election called after his coalition government collapsed.
Rutte's fourth government had been in office since the beginning of 2022. Rutte, from the liberal conservative People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), had been prime minister for almost 13 years.
His four-party coalition fell apart on Friday in a dispute over migration policy. The sticking point in the crisis meeting that led to the break-up of the government was a restriction on family reunification for refugees already in the country.
Rutte declared his withdrawal from politics at the start of a parliamentary debate on the political situation. The 56-year-old said it was a personal decision.
"This debate has to be about our country," he said before the start of the session, during which the opposition had planned to table a motion of no confidence in the prime minister.
On Monday evening, King Willem-Alexander received Parliamentary Speaker Vera Bergkamp, who wanted to inform the head of state about the political situation, the Royal Household announced.
Rutte had already offered the king his resignation and that of his the cabinet while discussing the situation with Willem-Alexander on Saturday.
The date of a new election has not yet been set, but it is likely to take place in mid-November, media reports said.
Since the Dutch generally go to the polls on Wednesdays, November 15 is a possible date. As soon as there is an agreement on this, Willem-Alexander can announce the election date and accept the resignation of the government.
With the country's leadership up in the air, some fear that the work of the government could stagnate, even as the Netherlands tackles the migration question, as well as a housing shortage, the transition to renewable energy and climate policy.
Environmental regulations for farmers are also set to create serious tensions.
It is still unclear who will be the favourite to succeed Rutte, either in his VVD or in one of the other parties.
Rutte is one of the longest-serving heads of government in the EU but has been increasingly unpopular at home after scandals involving his government. He has also been accused, even from within his own party, of having abandoned the strict right-wing course of his colleagues.
His great rival, the right-wing populist Geert Wilders, said Rutte had caved on climate and asylum policy.
For a long time, many Dutch people saw Rutte as a good crisis manager who could keep things together. That legacy is now in tatters, with the asylum row that brought down his coalition matching the shifting sands of Dutch politics.
