Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte announced the resignation of the cabinet in a speech on Friday, saying that the responsibility for the scandal “ultimately rests with the current cabinet and nowhere else.”
Under the scandal, about 10,000 families in the Netherlands were told to repay tens of thousands of euros in subsidies after they were wrongly accused of child welfare fraud.
Rutte delivered his speech in the wake of the publication of a report by the parliamentary inquiry committee on childcare grants, which he called ‘very tough but fair’.
“At all levels throughout the political-administrative justice system, mistakes have been made that have led thousands of parents to great injustice,” he noted.
The Dutch prime minister was clear that financial compensation for the parents involved was the ‘first thing that needs to be arranged well’.
“We will continue to work on rapid compensation and the improvements needed for the future.”
Elections for a new government will take place in mid-March, he announced, saying until then, the current administration will continue and ‘can be expected to do what is necessary in the national interest.’
Rutte has been in power for more than a decade and will take the lead in October 2010. If his party wins the election in two months’ time, he could form a new administration.
Rutte addressed the Dutch people and said “our fight against the coronavirus continues.”