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The Dutch government survived crisis talks Friday night triggered by football violence and the resignation of a minister over alleged racist remarks by other Cabinet members.
Though speculation swirled that the entire government would collapse, only Nora Achahbar — a state secretary in the finance ministry from the centrist New Social Contract (NSC) party — resigned from the Cabinet Friday night, according to multiple Dutch media reports.
The fragile right-wing coalition will retain enough seats to remain in power — at least for now — after the Cabinet teetered amid concern that other NSC ministers would follow Achahbar out the door, possibly jeopardizing the coalition’s numbers.
Achahbar told her colleagues earlier Friday that she was quitting over alleged racist comments made by other ministers during a Cabinet meeting Monday to discuss violence in Amsterdam involving locals and Israeli football fans last week, according to Dutch broadcaster NOS. She released a statement publicly confirming her resignation shortly after Friday night’s Cabinet crisis meeting.
“With pain in my heart I have to announce today that I will not continue this task,” Achahbar wrote, noting that she had entered the coalition to “restore justice, humanity and trust within the government.”
“The polarizing attitudes of the past few weeks have had such an impact on me that I can no longer and no longer wish to effectively fulfill my position as state secretary of this Cabinet,” she added.
The Netherlands’ government since July has been comprised of the far-right Party for Freedom (PVV), the center-right People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), the populist Farmer-Citizen Movement (BBB) and the NSC, following the PVV’s win at last November’s elections.
Led by Prime Minister Dick Schoof, they have formed the most right-wing government in Dutch history.
But the uneasy coalition was beset by infighting over how to respond to the violence in Amsterdam, with anti-immigrant PVV leader Geert Wilders — who is not part of the government — repeatedly venting his fury at the Cabinet and demanding harsh measures against migrants, reportedly Arabs and Muslims, who carried out violence against Israelis. During a day of chaos, Maccabi Tel Aviv fans had torn down Palestinian flags in Amsterdam city center and chanted anti-Arab slogans.
While PVV, VVD and BBB all backed a plan to strip the perpetrators of antisemitic violence of their Dutch citizenship, the more moderate NSC have declined to say whether it supported such a measure.
Schoof addressed Achahbar’s resignation in a press conference after the Cabinet’s late-night crisis meeting, assuring that the coalition “expressed confidence in continuing together,” despite the “emotional” and “intense” week. Schoof also firmly denied accusations of racism, saying “there was or is no racism” in the Cabinet.
He also claimed that members want to represent a Cabinet “for all Dutch people” — a sharp contrast from an earlier denunciation from Frans Timmermans, leader of the joint opposition Dutch Social Democratic Party (PVDA) and Dutch Green Left.
Timmermans wrote in a message of support for Achahbar’s resignation on Friday: “In this government, racist remarks are the order of the day. This Cabinet is not for all Dutch people.”
