What to find out about Rob Jetten – the youngest ever prime minister of The Netherlands | EUROtoday

The Netherlands is poised to inaugurate a brand new minority coalition authorities at present, with King Willem-Alexander swearing in Rob Jetten, who, at 38, turns into the nation’s youngest prime minister.

Mr Jetten faces a right away check of his bridge-building skills to navigate a full four-year time period.

His three-party administration, shaped by his centrist D66, the centre-right Christian Democrats, and the People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy, holds simply 66 of the 150 seats within the decrease home. This necessitates fixed negotiation with opposition lawmakers to cross any laws.

This problem is amplified by the biggest opposition bloc, the newly merged Green Left and Labour Party, which has already expressed robust objections to Mr Jetten’s proposed cuts to healthcare and welfare prices.

Opposition chief Jesse Klaver stated Friday in a message on X that underneath the brand new authorities’s plans, “ordinary people will have to pay hundreds of euros more, while the wealthiest are not asked to contribute anything extra.” He added: “We are taking responsibility to adjust these plans. This must change.”

Jetten and his staff of ministers will formally settle for their new roles when they’re sworn in by the king at his palace in a forest on the sting of The Hague. They will then pose for a conventional picture of the brand new Cabinet on the steps of the palace earlier than getting all the way down to work with their first Cabinet assembly within the afternoon.

How we received right here

Jetten narrowly gained an Oct. 29 election, taking the identical variety of seats as anti-Islam lawmaker Geert Wilders’ Party for Freedom, however with barely extra votes. The ultimate consequence was determined by a depend of postal ballots.

The snap election was pressured when Wilders, who gained the earlier election, withdrew his ministers from the four-party right-wing coalition his social gathering led in June final yr. Outgoing premier Dick Schoof, whose 11-month-old administration was one of many shortest-lived governments in Dutch political historical past, has been caretaker chief ever since.

The new prime minister’s international coverage want record

Jetten desires to usher in a brand new period of consensus within the Dutch parliament, after years of factional bickering throughout the splintered political spectrum.

He can also be on the lookout for a reset of the Netherlands influential position within the European Union, which was broadly seen as having eroded underneath the earlier authorities.

Jetten, who has up to now voiced criticism of U.S. President Donald Trump, informed The Associated Press final month that one of many first issues he’ll do after taking workplace is “talk to my colleagues in Europe to see what role the Dutch can play again in strengthening the European cooperation.”

But he additionally underscored the significance of ties with the United States, a significant buying and selling accomplice for the Dutch financial system.

Jetten has pledged to take care of robust Dutch assist for Ukraine because it battles in opposition to Russia’s four-year-old invasion.

Who’s who in Jetten’s Cabinet

The ministers’ posts within the new Cabinet are shared between Jetten’s social gathering and his coalition companions.

The new international minister is Christian Democrat Tom Berendsen. He is anticipated to hunt to rejuvenate the Netherlands’ place in Europe having beforehand served because the chief of his social gathering’s bloc within the European Parliament.

One title that isn’t altering is the finance minister — Eelco Heinen retains the job he held within the earlier administration, the place he was seen as a gentle hand on the federal government’s purse strings.

Dilan Yeşilgöz-Zegerius, a former justice minister and chief of the People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy, strikes to the protection ministry the place she is going to oversee strikes to beef up the nation’s navy.

Bart van den Brink, a Christian Democrat, has been tapped to be minister for asylum and immigration coverage and is anticipated to proceed strikes by the earlier authorities to rein in migration and velocity up procedures for dealing with asylum functions.