It was a historic image, the photo of the Rutte IV cabinet on the steps of Noordeinde Palace, shortly after the swearing-in by King Willem-Alexander on January 10, 2022. Due to the corona measures still in force at the time, the ministers stood one and a half meters apart from each other. . And the group was not even complete: Deputy Prime Minister Sigrid Kaag (D66) was missing, because she herself had been struck down by the virus that day.
You could say that the platform photo was not only historical, but also significant: Rutte IV has never been very coherent and harmonious. It came about after a particularly difficult formation, full of mutual distrust. None of the coalition partners were really expecting it. Rather, it was a marriage of convenience between VVD, D66, CDA and Christian Union – the same composition as Rutte III. After a year and a half, it failed in July last year due to disagreement over a stricter asylum policy.
And now the dissolution of the now outgoing cabinet has started at a rapid pace. Not much is left of the original composition: six of the twenty ministers have left and one of the nine state secretaries. There are already five new faces in the Trêves Hall and there is still one vacancy open, for the not insignificant healthcare portfolio, due to the departure this week of Minister Ernst Kuipers.
Last week the musical chairs within the D66 squadron was particularly noticeable. Deputy Prime Minister Kaag started her humanitarian UN mission on the Gaza crisis and handed over the deputy prime ministership in the cabinet to party leader Rob Jetten – who is also party leader in the House of Representatives. Former MP Steven van Weyenberg has succeeded Kaag as Minister of Finance. He is therefore leaving his other interim job, as State Secretary for Culture, after just a month. He took over that post at the beginning of December from Gunay Uslu, who became chairman of her family business Corendon. Former Groningen deputy Fleur Gräper is now the new State Secretary for Culture.
Kuipers also announced his departure as Minister of Health with immediate effect for a “position abroad”. D66 would like to appoint a successor for the months remaining in the outgoing government.
The exodus of ministers in this phase is not surprising. After all, the cabinet has long been in its reserve period and no one knows how long that will last – the formation of a new cabinet is still in the early stages. Apart from the VVD, the current coalition parties have no prospect of participating in government. Then it is not surprising that the outgoing ministers and state secretaries are busy with their next career step, outside politics in The Hague.
According to Bert van den Braak, professor of parliamentary history at Maastricht University, the departure of ministers from a caretaker cabinet is not exceptional, but this time the movement is bigger than ever. In the aftermath of Rutte III, two ministers prematurely opted for a new job outside The Hague: Cora van Nieuwenhuizen (VVD) and Stientje van Veldhoven (D66). Successors were also sought for them. According to Van den Braak, that phenomenon – “newcomers in a transitional period” – has actually only existed for a few years. “This is due to the exceptionally long formations of 2017 and 2021.” Because the government fell last year and new elections were delayed for almost six months, this caretaker period is also exceptionally long.
For the four parties that are now discussing the formation of a new cabinet behind closed doors, three of which have never governed, there are some lessons to be learned from the exodus of Rutte IV. Certainly for PVV leader Geert Wilders and Pieter Omtzigt of NSC, who have both suggested the possibility of a business cabinet as a refreshing idea that could contribute to a new administrative culture.
Renowned professionals
D66 received praise two years ago with the nomination of a number of ministers who did not come from the inner world of The Hague. The party brought together several renowned professionals from other corners of society: science scientist Robbert Dijkgraaf as Minister of Education, doctor and hospital director Kuipers on Public Health and cultural historian -Uslu as State Secretary for Culture.
It now appears that such appointments from outside can also have a disadvantage: less loyalty to the political company. Administrative lateral entrants feel less connected to The Hague mores and to their party. They generally did not start as a policy officer, campaign volunteer or local representative. Unlike professional politicians, a return to their old (commercial) job is easy for them. It was significant that Gunay Uslu stated in a parliamentary debate in March last year that she would turn her back on politics after her first cabinet term – if all goes well.”
They are passers-by who can use the honorable intermezzo for public affairs to polish their own CV. This is a risk for administrative continuity.
The fact that the outgoing cabinet is no longer operating at full capacity and has new ministers who have not been trained in a few departments can be a significant handicap. Because although there are no major policy changes in the pipeline, national government will continue as usual. In fact, Rutte IV still has to discuss a large part of the national budget, as presented on Budget Day, with parliament. Due to the election recess in November, the old House of Representatives no longer had time to do this.
A number of outgoing ministers and state secretaries from the old cabinet will therefore have to defend their partial budget for 2024 in the new House of Representatives in the coming weeks. This is not about crumbs, but about some of the largest departmental budgets: including Healthcare (111 billion euros), Education (50 billion) and Justice (21 billion). That first ministry now lacks the chief minister; the second has a relatively new minister in Mariëlle Paul. And the budget handling of Justice & Security may cause yet another complication.
Responsible minister Dilan Yesilgöz (VVD) showed in December that he could not completely separate the temporary dual role as faction leader of a forming party and outgoing minister. In the debate with scout Ronald Plasterk, the new VVD leader caused great outrage with her motion in which she called on both the Senate and the Cabinet to park the politically sensitive distribution law. She immediately tried to capitalize on the revised VVD position with the new right-wing majority. But it was a ridiculous attempt, which was especially painful for her newly elected party colleague Eric van der Burg. After all, he must get this law through the Senate next Tuesday as outgoing State Secretary for Asylum and Migration.