PM: King to remain member of cabinet

RNW, 24 May 2011

Prime Minister Mark Rutte

The cabinet says the head of state will remain a member of the government. In a letter to parliament, Prime Minister Mark Rutte wrote he saw no reason to change the current situation.

In October of last year, Freedom Party leader Geert Wilders argued for removing the Queen – or king after Willem-Alexander ascends the throne – from the government. The Green Left Party, the Socialist Party, the democrat party D66 and the Animal Rights Party also favour a purely ceremonial monarchy.

However, Prime Minister Rutte in his letter found that the role of the monarch in the government poses no problems: "On the contrary, the formal link between monarch and government ministers – as governed by ministerial responsibility – avoids the risk of a political role being forced upon the king as a result of the authority he enjoys in society."

In a reaction, Freedom Party leader Geert Wilders said his party would introduce a bill before the summer recess to put an end to the head of state’s role in government: “We are staunch royalists, but nevertheless disagree with Mr Rutte.”

D66 leader Alexander Pechtold (D66) also was not pleased: “Rutte joins a long line of prime ministers who were afraid to tackle the issue. However, he puts the monarchy in a vulnerable position, because the times are changing.”

Green Left MP Ineke van Gent said she was disappointed and felt that Rutte’s approach meant he was letting the monarchy down and dodging the call for change. “It’s a kind of good-news-show rooted in denial. The prime minister will go sit on his thumbs and wants to leave everything the way it was.”