‘Teflon Mark’: Dutch PM Rutte reaches key milestone

Mark Rutte grew to become the longest-serving Dutch prime minister on Tuesday, after being in workplace for nearly 12 years.

He first grew to become prime minister within the Netherlands in October 2010 and is understood by some as “Teflon Mark” due to his capability to outlive scandals.

“It’s the best job on this planet, an unbelievable honour. I have to say that there are actually a lot of puzzles on my desk, however this stuff occur,” Rutte mentioned late final month as Dutch politics entered its summer season recess.

The 55-year-old centre-right PM leads the Folks’s Occasion for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), which regardless of declining in current polls, stays the biggest occasion in Dutch politics.

Rutte is now main his fourth coalition authorities.

“Mainly he grew to become prime minister by default due to the failure of others not due to his personal achievements — simply because the opposite ones collapsed greater than the VVD did,” political scientist André Krouwel of the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, advised AP.

That has helped Rutte retain Dutch politics’ high job regardless of damaging crises, together with a scandal involving 1000’s of younger households being plunged into debt and despair after being wrongfully accused of kid profit fraud.

Rutte’s third coalition resigned due to the scandal. However he bounced again to steer the VVD to victory in a normal election weeks later in March 2021.

He’s seen in some quarters as too slick and has been accused in parliament of mendacity to lawmakers, however on the similar time he is seen as an environment friendly chief who could make issues occur, Krouwel mentioned.

“These two components … — and I feel they’re each true — make him, I feel, a tough participant to beat,” he mentioned.

The earlier longevity report of 4,310 days in workplace was set by Ruud Lubbers, a Christian Democrat who led the Netherlands from Nov. 4, 1982, till Aug. 22, 1994.

Rutte is the second longest-serving elected chief within the 27-nation European Union, trailing solely Hungary’s Viktor Orban.

“For me, the decisive issue is: Do I’ve the concepts, the vitality? Is my mouth watering on Friday morning when the Cupboard assembly begins to start fixing issues? So long as I’ve that, I want to proceed,” Rutte mentioned.