It’s official, folks! Today, the Dutch Prime Minister, Mark Rutte, has been in office for 4,311 days, making him the longest-serving PM in Dutch history.
After being in office for what equals 11 years and more than nine months (!!), Rutte snatched the title from the former CDA Prime Minister, Ruud Lubbers, who served as PM from 1982 until 1994, reports the NOS.
So, let’s take a look at Rutte’s record-breaking political history — including the good, the bad, and the ugly.
Rutte’s first cabinets
Rutte emerged as the leader of the VVD in 2006 after a fierce battle for the position that almost split the party. Afterwards, it some him some time to find his footing in Dutch parliamentary politics, but in 2010 he steered the VVD to victory and secured his seat as the first VVD Prime Minister.
His first cabinet, the so-called Rutte I, was a minority cabinet that fell in 2012 after the PVV leader Gert Wilders withdrew his support.
Rutte II followed after one of the fastest formations ever (in stark contrast to this year’s formation, if we may add 🙃) and was in power for the remaining duration of Rutte’s time in office. Lasting from 2012 until 2016, it became the longest-serving post-war cabinet in the Netherlands.
Rutte III and IV
The Rutte III cabinet followed in October 2016, but this time the VVD needed the support of the CDA, D66, and ChristenUnie to form a majority.
For a while, Rutte continued to charm his way out of any potential scandals — rocking up to the Binnenhof on his bike and smiling through his *cough cough* bad English.
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But in January 2021, shit really hit the fan as a result of the parliamentary investigations of the toeslagenaffaire (childcare allowance affair).
One of the biggest Dutch political scandals in recent times, the toeslagenaffaire revealed that the Tax and Customs Administration had spent seven years wrongly accusing 26,000 parents of submitting fraudulent benefit claims.
READ MORE | Dutch tax authorities specifically targeted low-income individuals for fraud
Rutte III fell (hard) soon after the scandal was brought to light, and elections were scheduled for March 2021.
However, you hardly noticed as Rutte and the rest of the implicated ministers continued to serve on a demissionary status. Of course, a few did resign, but Rutte stayed on to steer the country through the coronavirus. 😅
After the March elections, it took more than 270 days to form the current Rutte IV cabinet.
Is anyone else noticing how Rutte is raking in records? Shortest cabinet formation, longest cabinet formation, longest-serving cabinet, longest-serving time in office — phew!
What do you think of Rutte’s time in office? Tell us in the comments!
Rutte has been a stooge for the Left from the day he first became PM. And now he wants to give Joe Stalin a run for the money by starving citizens of his own country to death. The only thing he ever did that was actually good for the country was trying to eliminate welfare cheating and for this the Left Wing Press jumped on him with their toeslagenaffaire BS.