Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said Monday he would step down as leader of the country’s ruling party and leave politics, after his government collapsed over immigration policy, Dutch national broadcaster
The inveterate survivor of Dutch politics, nicknamed “Teflon Mark” because scandals surrounding his four consecutive governments did not stick to him, announced his surprise decision at a parliamentary debate in the Hague.
“I did well and I honestly think that it is the right time [to step down],” Rutte said Monday, adding that he was leaving “with a lot of emotion and with a lot of mixed feelings.”
Rutte, who has been in power since 2010 and is Europe’s second-longest serving leader, had said Friday that his government would tender its resignation to the Dutch king, triggering new elections to be held in the fall.
He said at a news conference that “differing opinions about immigration policy” within his four-party coalition government had become “insurmountable,” but did not give any indication that he would resign from politics and was expected to lead the VVD party into the new elections.
VVD had proposed limiting entrance for children of war refugees who are already in the Netherlands, forcing families to wait for at least two years before they can be reunited.