Mark Rutte said he will not run for a fifth term as the Dutch prime minister.
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Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte announced on Monday that he won’t run for a fifth term in office after handing in the resignation of his cabinet Friday, bringing an end to the country’s fragile four-party coalition government.
Rutte, who became the country’s longest-serving prime minister in history in August last year, said he plans to leave Dutch politics following elections later in the year.
The leader of the conservative People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) had served as prime minister since 2010.
“In recent days there’s been a lot of speculation about what motivated me. The only answer is the Netherlands,” Rutte said in a speech in parliament, according to Reuters.
“Yesterday morning I made the decision that I will not again be available as leader of the VVD. Once the new cabinet is formed after the elections, I will leave politics.”
His comments came ahead of a scheduled no-confidence vote in The Hague on Monday.
Rutte’s announcement comes shortly after he last week said that his four-party coalition government had collapsed over “irreconcilable” differences on immigration policy.
The prime minister and his coalition partners will remain in post until a new ruling government is chosen. Opposition lawmakers have called for an immediate election.
The four-party coalition government comprises Rutte’s VVD, the center-right Christian Democratic Appeal party and two centrist parties: the Democrats 66 and the Christian Union.
Analysts at Dutch lender Rabobank said that the proportional representation political system means the country tends to rely on coalition governments to enact policies.
“The need to build consensus can result in stalemate in key policy areas. This has traditionally been viewed as pretty market friendly as it limits dramatic changes in direction of policy,” analysts at the bank said.