Mark Rutte stops as party leader VVD and leaves politics after the elections

Mark Rutte stops as party leader VVD and leaves politics after elections

Outgoing Prime Minister Mark Rutte is no longer the leader of the VVD in the elections. He announced this on Monday during the statement he gave in the House of Representatives about the fall of his fourth cabinet.

Hoekstra only informed the CDA top on Sunday evening that he does not want to continue as party leader

CDA leader Wopke Hoekstra only informed the top of his party on Sunday evening that he does not want to continue as party leader in the upcoming parliamentary elections. Sources confirm that NRC. Hoekstra only called party chairman Pieter Heerma after ten o’clock in the evening, which is around that time The Telegraph goes to the printer. The party chairman was also informed by that time.

Hoekstra says in an interview in that newspaper that he does not want to continue as the number 1 of the CDA again. This does not really come as a surprise, since he took office in December 2020 as party leader there has been criticism of his performance. As Minister of Foreign Affairs, according to CDA officials in the country, the CDA member had little time for his party, which fared very badly electorally. Under his leadership, the CDA has lost seats in all elections: the parliamentary elections in 2021, the municipal elections in 2022 and the provincial elections in 2023.

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The House of Representatives returns today, just a few days after the start of the summer recess, for a debate on the fall of the cabinet. Outgoing Prime Minister Mark Rutte (VVD) will make a statement at 10.15 am. After that, opposition leader Geert Wilders (PVV) will officially request a debate.

The debate will discuss, among other things, why the cabinet has fallen, but Rutte’s future is also on the agenda. The opposition has already announced that it will present a vote of no confidence. It only stands a chance if one of the former coalition partners of the VVD (D66, CDA and ChristenUnie) supports the motion.

In 2021, Rutte survived another such motion, two weeks after the parliamentary elections. Then the Chamber debated a note from the formation scouts that had stated “Position Omtzigt, function elsewhere”. The coalition parties then supported Rutte, allowing him to stay on. The question is whether that will be the case again today. If the three parties, or one of them, vote in favor this time, it means that Mark Rutte must immediately stop as outgoing prime minister.

Read the previous blog here.

Read also: Who is to blame for the cabinet fall? Most fingers point to Rutte