The Dutch Parliament’s Second Chamber in session.
THE HAGUE--The Dutch government lost its majority in the Parliament’s Second Chamber on Monday when a previously dismissed member of Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s conservative VVD party said he would keep his seat as an independent.
Member of Parliament Wybren van Haga was dismissed by his party last month for failing to cut ties with his real estate company, which in 2018 was found to have breached rules on renting out properties.
Van Haga had previously not made it clear whether he would stay in Parliament or return his seat to the VVD. “I have decided to keep my seat,” he told Dutch news TV show “Een Vandaag” on Monday.
Rutte’s four-party coalition of VVD, Christian-Democrat CDA, centre-democrat D66 and Christian Union now holds 75 seats in the 150-seat Second Chamber, meaning it will have to find support from opposition parties for legislation to pass.
This has effectively already been the case since March, when the coalition lost its majority in the Parliament’s First Chamber, the Senate.
