Mark Rutte Dutch caretaker cabinet announces election in November

July 16, 2023

Following Interior Minister 's recommendation, an election is to take place in the Netherlands on November 22, Prime Minister 's announced Friday, a week after it resigned over disagreement on asylum policy.

The, under , led  polling for the election as of July 1.

Rutte, leader of the and in his fourth consecutive term as Prime Minister, handed his resignation to  on July 8. He later announced his departure from politics altogether, saying it was a personal decision not influenced by the government's collapse.

The VVD, with the 's (CDA) support, proposed limiting, according to the Agence France-Presse, the influx of children of refugees in the Netherlands, and keeping refugee families separated for a minimum of two years; the and  parties expressed opposition.

In February, the CDA proposed a system distinguishing temporary refugees, who would be granted asylum for one to three years &mdash; extendable if they fled a war and it continued for over three years, and permanent refugees.

Applications for asylum in the Netherlands increased by a third in 2022, surpassing 46,000.