[ad_1]
IN THE STORM: Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte had to answer for himself in the Hague parliament on Thursday. Photo: Peter Dejong / AP
The opposition has accused Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte of lying. On Friday night, he survived a vote of no confidence in the National Assembly by a narrow margin.
Reports the German newspaper Deutsche Welle.
– I will continue as prime minister. I want to work very hard to restore confidence, said Prime Minister Mark Rutte after the vote in Parliament in The Hague on Good Friday evening.
However, he did not escape unscathed: Parliament adopted a statement formally criticizing the prime minister, saying he has lied about comments he allegedly made during talks on a new governing coalition.
“Parliament has given me a serious message and I will do everything possible to regain confidence,” he told reporters after the debate in parliament, Reuters reports.
also read
Curfew chaos in the Netherlands: parties stopped at the last minute
You must have discussed the relocation of politicians.
The Dutch prime minister has ruled the country for more than ten years and also became a clear winner in the parliamentary elections on March 17.
The background to the vote of no confidence was something that happened during the talks about a new governing coalition after these elections.
One of the leaders of the government negotiations was represented with documents from the polls, where, among other things, reference was made to discussions about the “relocation” of Christian Democratic politician Pieter Omtzigt.
CORE OF DISPUTE: Outgoing Interior Minister Kajsa Ollongren of the D66 party had to rush out of government negotiations after testing positive for corona. In the documents he brought from the meetings, it was suggested that politician Pieter Omtzigt should be relocated. Photo: BART MAAT / ANP
Omtzigt’s party was part of the previous Rutte government, which had to resign in January after a social security scandal. Omtzigt is known to “torment” the government with tough questions about this particular social security scandal.
When confronted by the media with this, Rutte said that he had not discussed Omtzigt at all during the meetings. On Thursday, he had to admit that he had misremembered: Documents that had been released showed that the prime minister had spoken with other negotiators about whether Omtzigt should become minister.
– I do not stay here and lie, I tell the truth, Rutte claimed to the parliament on Thursday, writes AP.
The prime minister also apologized to Omtzigt, who did not participate in the debate and vote in parliament.
– Confidence is severely weakened
Rutte has survived a series of scandals and no-confidence motions since he became prime minister in 2010, and has been dubbed “Teflon-Rutte.”
Sigrid Kraag, who is the leader of the country’s second largest party, D66, says she is not sure if she is willing to enter into an alliance with Rutte. The party was part of the former prime minister’s government.
– My confidence in Rutte seriously weakens after this day. The distance between him and me has increased, sorry, he said after the vote in parliament. according to AP.
