After nine months of negotiations, an agreement to form a government finally reached

Mark Rutte will have needed nearly nine months of negotiations to save his post. Four parties finally reached an agreement on Monday to form a government coalition in the Netherlands that will allow the prime minister to serve a fourth term. The discussions, which began after the legislative elections in mid-March, lasted 271 days, a new record for the country after 225 days without a government in 2017.

The center-right VVD of the outgoing head of government, the center-left D66, the center-right CDA and Christen Unie (conservatives) have reached a text of agreement which will be presented to parliament on Wednesday. “The text was accepted,” said a spokesperson for Johan Remkes and Wouter Koolmees, who oversaw the negotiations, as quoted by the ANP news agency. NOS and RTL TV channels also announced the deal.

A “pleasant and balanced accord”

“It’s a good deal,” said Mark Rutte at the end of the talks, while declining to give more details. Sigrid Kaag, whose D66 party won the second most seats in the March 17 elections, added that it was a “nice and balanced deal”.

Mark Rutte, Prime Minister since October 2010, has resigned since January due to a scandal linked to family allowances, but continues to manage day-to-day affairs. He was not disowned by the voters in the legislative elections in March, won hands down by his VVD party, despite a year marked in particular by a motion of no confidence which he barely survived. This ability to emerge unscathed from political crises has earned it the nickname “Teflon”.