Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte resigned due to a child benefit scandal, but said he would remain an interim leader until a new cabinet was formed.
Rutte, now nearing the end of his third term as prime minister, is a center-right politician and one of Europe’s oldest leaders, alongside German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Merkel is expected to step down in the fall, when Germany holds federal elections and her party this weekend is expected to elect its new leader, who can run to succeed her as chancellor.
Unlike Merkel, Rutte did not rule out the return to power and said that his government would remain until a replacement cabinet was formed, so that the Netherlands would not be left without leadership amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The formation of the Dutch cabinet has been slow in recent years, with the current four-party alliance demanding a record 225 days of negotiations after the 2017 elections.
At the heart of the scandal is the revelation that thousands of families have been unjustly accused of fraud in child benefits since 2012. Families, most of them of immigrant origin, have been forced to repay thousands of euros, without any means of recourse.