On Monday, the new Dutch minority coalition government, led by the youngest prime minister in Dutch history, took office. He will have to use all his networking skills to pass laws and serve out a full four-year term, AP reports, writes UNN.
Details
38-year-old Rob Jetten heads a three-party government consisting of his centrist D66 party, the center-right Christian Democrats, and the center-right People's Party for Freedom and Democracy.
In a post on X, Jetten, who, as the publication writes, "is the first openly gay prime minister of the Netherlands," stated that it was "a huge honor to be able to serve as prime minister."
The parties together hold only 66 of the 150 seats in the lower house of parliament, so Jetten will have to negotiate with opposition lawmakers to find support for every piece of legislation his government wants to pass. The largest opposition bloc, the recently merged GreenLeft and Labor Party, has already made it clear that it will insist on changes to some of Jetten's plans, the publication writes.
Jetten and his team of ministers were sworn in by King Willem-Alexander in the exquisite Orange Hall of the royal palace in the woods on the outskirts of The Hague. The King wished the new government good luck "in uncertain times."
A small group of protesters from the environmental group Extinction Rebellion protested outside the palace gates during the ceremony and sounded sirens as the new ministers lined up for an official photo.
After the traditional photo of the new cabinet on the palace steps, the new government plans to begin its work with its first meeting in the afternoon.
The government was sworn in 117 days after the national elections, which Jetten's party won by a narrow margin over the Party for Freedom, which, as the publication writes, "is led by anti-Islam lawmaker" Geert Wilders. The final result was determined only after the counting of postal ballots following the fourth national elections since 2017 in the politically divided Netherlands.
Jetten's new government took office a day before the fourth anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. He pledged to continue his country's strong support for Kyiv in its fight against the forces of Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin.
Jetten also stated that he would continue to spend on strengthening the Dutch army in times of geopolitical uncertainty.