Regarding The Mass Resignation Of The Dutch PM And His Cabinet

JAKARTA - Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte resigned because of child welfare support problems. Not only Rutte. The entire cabinet under him also resigned.

In a speech broadcast on national television, Rutte said he had told King Willem-Alexander that this resignation was a commitment. Rutte also promised that his government would as soon as possible compensate parents who were affected by this problem.

"We agree that if the whole system fails, we all have to take responsibility, and that leads to the conclusion that I just offered the king the resignation of the entire Cabinet," Rutte said, quoted by Euronews, Tuesday, January 19.

The case began when the tax authorities accused thousands of families of fraudulent child support claims. The authorities also forced the families to return the benefits they received. It turned out that the authorities were wrong.

A parliamentary report revealed that in December, thousands of parents were unable to return benefits amid a fraud investigation. Some of them were even in debt because they were caught up in the allegations of claim fraud.

Now, after being proven guilty, the Dutch government apologized. The Rutte government has also set aside 500 million euros for families that have been hit by the scandal.

This scandal had a wide impact. Labor Party leader Lodewijk Asscher said he would resign and would not run for the vote on March 17. Asscher was the Minister for Social Affairs for the period 2012 to 2017. Asscher felt that he was to blame for the scandal.

In a video posted to Facebook, Lodewijk said, "did not know that the tax authorities had carried out illegal hunting of thousands of families."

The Labor Party itself has shared power in the government, until they lost seats in 2017. Until now, the Labor Party is still in opposition.

Rutte said he had spoken with Asscher. "I really appreciate his extraordinary commitment to our country and our cooperation over the years. I personally wish him the best," tweeted Rutte.

For Rutte, the resignation ended a decade in office. On the other hand, many analysts take Rutte's move as symbolic. It is believed that Rutte will remain in charge of the task force until a new coalition is formed after the March 17 elections in the Netherlands.

And regarding the mechanisms surrounding the elections, Rutte's party is expected to win the election and put him at the forefront of starting talks on forming the next government. If he succeeds in forming a new coalition, it is likely that Rutte will return as prime minister.

The Netherlands is battling COVID-19, amid thousands of infections per day and slow distribution of vaccines. This condition dragged the Netherlands into political uncertainty.

The weakening of political stability due to COVID-19 has occurred in a number of other European countries. In Estonia, Prime Minister Juri Ratas also resigned over a corruption scandal.

Meanwhile, in Italy, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte is faltering. Its power is in danger of being undermined after small partner parties withdraw support.