Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte arrives on his bike earlier than the Council of Ministers on the Binnenhof in The Hague.
REMKO DE WAAL | AFP | Getty Photos
LONDON — The entire Dutch authorities collectively resigned on Friday after a scandal involving the mismanagement of childcare funds, which drove hundreds of households into monetary hardship.
An investigation revealed in December that tax officers wrongly accused hundreds of working households of fraud and ordered them to repay childcare advantages between 2013 and 2019. The occasion has been described as an “unprecedented injustice” by some Dutch lawmakers.
The revelation led to the resignation on Thursday of opposition chief Lodewijk Asscher who was the minister in command of social affairs within the earlier administration.
The federal government led by Prime Minister Mark Rutte, in energy since 2017, selected Friday to just accept accountability and collectively depart workplace on the again of the scandal.
“With as we speak’s determination, the cupboard desires to do justice to all these mother and father who’ve been wronged unprecedentedly,” the prime minister stated in an announcement.
Talking at a press convention, he added that the federal government would proceed to steer the Covid-19 emergency response with a caretaker standing.
Covid response
The Netherlands was already because of have a brand new parliamentary election in March, however the authorities’s resignation comes at a tough time. The nation is in nationwide lockdown and has had nearly 1 million Covid-19 infections and 12,875 deaths for the reason that begin of the well being emergency, in accordance with Johns Hopkins College. The Netherlands additionally wants to organize a plan on the way it will revamp the economic system post-pandemic.
Rutte had beforehand stated {that a} authorities resignation wouldn’t be useful at the moment because the nation wants stability to cope with the pandemic, Politico reported. Nonetheless, this isn’t the primary time {that a} Dutch administration has resigned collectively to point out a standard accountability.
The households that have been concerned on this case have filed fees in opposition to 5 politicians this week, together with the present finance minister, Wopke Hoekstra.
Given the proximity of the overall election, ministers may find yourself staying of their roles till voters head to the polls.