Netherlands: PM Mark Rutte resigns after coalition partners differ on contested issue |Oneindia News

Netherlands: PM Mark Rutte resigns after coalition partners differ on contested issue |Oneindia News

The Dutch government has collapsed after resignation of Prime Minister Mark Rutte because of irreconcilable differences within the four-party coalition about how to rein in migration, a divisive issue that has split nations across Europe.

The resignation of Rutte, the longest-serving premier of the nation, means the country will face a general election later this year.

Rutte and his government will remain in office in a caretaker capacity until a new ruling coalition is chosen.

Opposition politicians did not waste any time in calling for fresh elections even before Rutte formally confirmed his resignation.

The decision to resign underscores ideological divisions that existed from the day the coalition was sworn in just over 18 months ago between parties that do not support a strict crackdown on migration – D66 and fellow centrist party, Christian Union – and the two that favour tougher measures – Rutte’s conservative People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy and the Christian Democrats.

Similar discussions are going on across political divides elsewhere in Europe as migrants fleeing conflict or seeking a better life make perilous sea crossings from northern Africa to reach the continent.

Hundreds of thousands of people also have fled the grinding war in Ukraine.

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