Holland is Plunged Into Political Crisis
Netherlands today entered into a political crisis with the resignation of the government after failing to agree with parliamentary partners a pact to reduce the public deficit to 3% of GDP in 2013, the deadline agreed with the European Union.
The insurmountable differences with the anti-Muslim party (PVV) on the adjustment plan have led to the prime minister, Mark Rutte liberal right to submit his resignation and that of his entire cabinet to Queen Beatrix Queen.
The Queen “shall consider the resignation” while asking the members of the Dutch Executive continue involved in matters of state, according to a statement quoted by the Dutch news agency ANP.
Rutte is expected to be directed to the Parliament tomorrow at noon to further explain its decision at an extraordinary debate.
Rutte, 45 and in power since October 2010, thus became another victim of the austerity policies implemented in the EU since the beginning of the financial crisis in 2008.
The call for early elections will be immediate, but so far no official date has been set for the elections.
The electoral law requires a minimum of 80 days between that elections are held and held.
The fall of the government in the Netherlands has been the chronicle of an announced decline since March 5 began negotiations on further cuts between the two parties in the current coalition (right liberal Democrats), with its members of parliament, the anti-Muslim led by Geert Wilders (PVV).
Wilders, with 23 seats in Parliament a few weeks ago threatened to break the deck of the covenant, but his return to the negotiating table seemed to indicate that he was willing to accept agreements to end.
So the decision to withdraw its support for the minority coalition at the last moment has been a surprise to analysts and to the prime minister himself, who on Saturday will not hesitate to blame the failure of Wilders negotiation.
According to information leaked in the press, the three parties had managed to agree a new adjustment package to save 14,200 million euros to the Treasury until the end of 2013, breaking taboos as the tax deduction for home mortgages, the pact to accelerate the implementation of the 66 as retirement age, the increase in VAT or increased copayment in Health.
This package of savings measures, which would add to the 18,000 million as announced earlier by the legislature in 2010, would channel the deficit in 2013 by two percentage points below the 3% required by Brussels, which would otherwise be shoot next year to 4.6% of gross domestic product (GDP).
According to Wilders, convinced anti-European, the withdrawal of their support has responded to his party is not willing to “follow the dictates of Brussels” if it means that people like Dutch retirees lose buying power.
Meanwhile, the Executive should continue to govern Rutte and acting in the minority, with the difficult task of gaining support not only to approve the adjustment package, which must be presented in Brussels by 30 April, but the budgets state by 2013, to be in place before the second week of September.
The European Commission said today he was confident that, despite the government crisis, the Netherlands succeed to advance the adjustment measures to prevent its deficit to rise to 4.6% as indicated by recent forecasts.
Opposition members like Alexander Pechtold, leader of the Liberal Democrats (D66, ten seats), have indicated their willingness to support the Government in approving state budgets, but have not been clear about its position on the settings.
Important will be the position of Labour in opposition, the second political force in the Netherlands, and so far have claimed they will not support new cost saving measures.
Fiscal austerity is charged and other EU government after the fall election of the Executive of Greece, Ireland, Portugal, Spain and Italy, which also threatens to overtake France after the defeat of French President Nicolas Sarkozy the first round of voting against the socialist Francois Hollande.
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