Gov't Could Collapse Over Benefit Scandal, But Little Impact On PM

The Dutch gov't is set to meet tomorrow to decide whether to resign over the release of a report into a scandal involving the mismanagement of child welfare benefits that led thousands of families into fiscal difficulties.

• The scandal, which took place under the previous gov't formed by incumbent PM Mark Rutte's centre-right People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) and the centre-left Labour Party (PvdA), has already claimed one senior political figure. The head of the PvdA, Lodewijk Asscher, stepped down on Thursday, saying that he himself was partly to blame for the scandal in his role as social affairs minister at the time.
• Legal action by the families involved has been launched against VVD Economy Minister Eric Wiebes and Finance Minister Wopke Hoekstra, from the centrist Christian Democratic Appeal, for their alleged roles in the failure.
• Rutte himself has said that he does not want the gov't to resign at this point with the COVID-19 pandemic resulting in strict lockdown measures across the Netherlands.
• Moreover, the next election has to be held by 17 March at the latest, meaning bringing down the gov't now may not result in a snap vote but simply the Rutte administration remaining in place until the spring.
• The gov't is perceived to have handled the COVID-19 pandemic well, resulting in extremely strong support for Rutte's VVD. If current polls are reflected in the final vote the VVD may be able to form a governing coalition with only one other party, compared to the unwieldy four-party coalition in place at present.