Amsterdam
King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands (R) and Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof arrive to attend the signing ceremony of a Royal Decree at Huis ten Bosch Palace in The Hague, July 2, 2024.
Dutch King Willem-Alexander on Tuesday appointed former intelligence chief Dick Schoof as the country’s new prime minister. As head of a right-wing coalition government, Schoof is tasked with implementing the country’s “toughest ever” immigration policies.
Shoaf took over from Mark Rutte, who had been in power for 14 years, 223 days after far-right leader Geert Wilders won a landslide election victory that stunned Europe and the world.
Schuch introduced Willem-Alexander to his ministers in the ornate “Orangleszaal” at the Royal Palace, and each minister stepped forward to swear allegiance to the King and the Constitution.
Wilders was forced to put aside his ambitions to become prime minister to keep fragile coalition talks on track, with some negotiators seeing his anti-Islamic, eurosceptic rhetoric as too extreme to lead the country.
Instead, the four coalition partners agreed that their party leaders would not take office, and compromised on the 67-year-old Shoaf, who previously headed the Dutch secret service.
A marathon runner, Schoof will need all his stamina and experience in the halls of power in The Hague to keep his shaky coalition partners on the right track.
“Shoaf will go to great lengths to keep ideological and personal conflicts under control,” Sara de Lange, professor of political pluralism at the University of Amsterdam, told AFP.
The prime minister vowed to “determine” his coalition’s plans for “the toughest refugee policy ever and the most comprehensive package of immigration controls ever”.
The 26-page coalition agreement, titled “Hope, Courage, Pride”, also calls for consideration of moving the Dutch embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
Shoaf said he aimed to be “a prime minister for all the Dutch people”, adding: “I’m an independent and I have no intention of kowtowing to Wilders.”
De Lange said Wilders would have a tough time keeping his PVV (Party for Freedom) in check, but that Shoaf would be given more leeway.
“Given his extensive experience leading government agencies, he will surely know how to defend his position,” she said.
“But it remains an open question how Wilders will react if people try to pressure him by publicly criticising his work at X,” he wrote on Twitter.
Trust in government has risen to 42% in 2022 from a low of 29% in September, according to a new Ipsos I&O poll released Tuesday.
“Little Tower”
Schoof played a key role in crisis situations, leading the Dutch investigation into the shooting down of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 in July 2014 over war-torn Ukraine.
All 298 passengers and crew, 196 of whom were Dutch, were killed by a Russian-made medium-range BUK missile fired from pro-Russian separatist territory.
Mr Shoaf, a former Labour member, has won the support of left-wing opposition leader Frans Timmermans, who described him as “definitely Wilders’ candidate”.
The Netherlands’ shift to the right comes amid a rise in popularity of far-right parties in several European countries.
In France, Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally (RN) party won a landslide victory in the first round of parliamentary elections on Sunday.
This change of government brings to an end Rutte’s 14 years in the “little tower” of prime ministerial office, a national record.
Rutte, who is known for munching on an apple while cycling to work, will be the next secretary-general of the Brussels-based NATO alliance.
His term was marked by a series of scandals that tore his administration apart, but he remained in power, earning the nickname “Teflon Mark” for his ability to survive.
In a solemn farewell speech on Sunday, President Trump apologized for the scandal in which thousands of parents were falsely accused of fraudulently applying for child support, in some cases after racial profiling.
He also apologised for the earthquake north of Groningen caused by gas extraction, and emphasised how emotional the MH17 incident had been.
