Rutte’s prospects of forming a new government diminish when the coalition partner leaves

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s prospects of forming a new government waned on Saturday as a coalition partner deemed vital to a parliamentary majority ruled out joining a new he.

Rutte narrowly survived a no-confidence vote Friday after parliament passed a motion to disapprove of his behavior during talks on forming a new government.

But ChristenUnie leader Gert Jan Segers said in an interview with the Nederlands Dagblad newspaper: “We don’t want to go back to business as usual. We can’t be part of a fourth Rutte government.”

ChristenUnie is one of four government parties led by Rutte’s Conservative VVD party since 2017.

Rutte, in office since 2010 and often an influential figure in the European Union, was the decisive winner in the general election two weeks ago.

But he only survived the censure vote, which accused him of not telling the truth about the suggestions he made about the possible future of a critical legislator from another party.

All parties outside his coalition voted for him to be removed immediately.

This seems to have left the current coalition as the only viable option for Rutte to form his fourth consecutive government, until the Segers movement on Saturday blocked that path.

Rutte, who has remained as interim prime minister, said on Friday that he had not given up hope of forming a new government, as he hoped formation talks would resume in the coming weeks.

Next week, Parliament will appoint an independent official to outline ways to advance the government’s formation process.

An opinion poll published after the censorship vote debate showed that Rutte’s support among the general public had declined to 25%, from 54% the previous week.