Entire Dutch Cabinet considers resignation
AMSTERDAM: Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte's Cabinet is considering collectively resigning over a report that blamed the government for mismanagement of child care subsidies, driving thousands of families to financial ruin.
A parliamentary inquiry last month concluded that ‘‘unprecedented injustice’’ had been done to innocent families, who were often forced to repay tens of thousands of euros of granted subsidies, leading to unemployment, bankruptcy or divorce.
Rutte, in office since 2010, said late last month that the affair, spanning almost the entire past decade, was ‘‘shameful’’. Compensation of at least ¤30,000 ($NZ50,600) is being paid to roughly 10,000 families.
The families this week filed charges against five politicians, including Finance Minister Wopke Hoekstra and Economy
Minister Eric Wiebes, for their role in the mismanagement.
Opinion polls show Rutte's government has the approval of twothirds of the public. But political analysts said pressure on the government to resign grew after Lodewijk Asscher stepped down as head of the opposition Labour party, and said he would not contest the March 17 parliamentary election as he felt he was partly to blame for the scandal.
In the subsidy scandal, the tax office ruthlessly enforced repayments of subsidies, without giving families opportunity to show their innocence, the parliamentary committee found. — Reuters