Mark Rutte has ended a 13 year run in the Netherlands as prime minister, bowing out after a row over immigration collapsed the coalition government. He said he will stay on as a caretaker prime minister until the general election in November. Known as “Teflon Mark,” for his ability to survive a series of political crises, he is described as a manager not a visionary – pragmatic, flexible and boring. His popularity has sagged in recent times, with his exit over migration seen by some as a strategic ploy to allow his own party to win the next election.
He started his run on 14 October 2010 on a lucky Jupiter Uranus in Pisces but all indications from that chart are that he should have bowed out at last time round in early 2022. Then there was a Solar Arc Saturn conjunct the Sun and Solar Arc Uranus opposition the Saturn hinting at the end of the road.
His personal chart, 14 February 1967 6.53 pm The Hague is a mix of jolting change and great relief pending from new opportunities on the horizon. Tr Neptune is conjunct his 7th house Saturn in Pisces at the moment exactly, pointing to disappointments in partnerships; with a tense, jolting Solar Arc opposition his Neptune, moving to square his Aquarius Sun in 2024 – at the same time as tr Uranus rattles up his Sun square Neptune (and SA Saturn).Tr Pluto is square his Mars at zero degrees Scorpio which is paralysed and frustrating in 2023/24 and he has a major setback from Solar Arc Mars square his Saturn in late 2024.
However he also has his Solar Arc Midheaven conjunct his Jupiter for success and his Solar Arc Jupiter conjunct his Uranus bringing a lucky break with relief also in 2024. Plus tr Saturn moving above the descendant on his chart which is usually a career marker upwards. With tr Jupiter moving across his 10th house mid 2024 to mid 2025 which usually brings promotion or recognition in some way. He’ll no doubt be handed a helpful gig to ease the pain.
He was a so-so fit with the Netherlands, 26 July 1581 JC, with his Aquarius Sun conjunct the Netherlands Saturn and his Neptune square the Neth’s Saturn – dull with ripples of distrust. But his Jupiter did conjunct the Neth South Node so he would provide a sense of faux comfort even if he did not produce any progressive policies.
@Jonathan Portes, actually, this also goes the other way, when populist, anti-immigration politicians are in power and have to admit their rapidly aging countries need immigrant workforce to maintain the standard of living people are used to.
Italy’s Giorgia Meloni just wrote a bill facilitating entry of 400 000 new immigrants to assure workforce in medical field, but also industry, tourism, and even fishing. Italy’s population natality has been among lowest in the World since the 1990’s, but somehow, lack of workforce after covid-19 it still surprised entrepreneurs especially in tourism. I’ve read countless complaints about “young people today not wanting to work”, when, in reality there are less young people, but a Global job market, where young, educated Italians easily find work paying double or triple of the Italian salaries. In addition, since the horrific shipwreck of an immigrant boat in Greece, Italian Coastal Guard is now collaborating with NGOs working on helping immigrant ships in distress. (And, here I have to say that I give it to Giorgia Meloni, she clearly does have a level of empathy, most right wingers don’t.)
In Finland, the newly formed Government is in hot water, because traditionally pro-business Coalition party chose to ally with anti-immigration and downright racist Finns party to drive union busting policies industry and business leaders longed for. As an exchange, they agreed to tight immigration clauses in government program, including extra-EU workers having to leave Finland if they lost job and didn’t find another one in 3 months, a request that’s clearly incompatible recruiting process especially in for highly specialized tech roles, where lead time from employing a direct search company to recruitment/starting in position) is often 6 month, and there are non-competition clauses. Also, some truly appalling racist slur filled and strangely sexualized messages that were traced to Finns chairwoman and Minister of Finance Riikka Purra on what used to a blog kept by current Speaker Jussi Halla-aho were brought to new scrutiny. These rise from 2008, but both Purra and Halla-aho were adults, and that blog was a springboard for hardline racist fraction that took over Finns party in 2017. Purra has also continued using very hard language on several subjects up unti taking party leadership in 2021. This, combined to demonstrated alt-right connections of Vilhelm Junnila, have been a rude awakening in Business circles, already struggling with attracting much needed workforce from abroad.
Addition: Here in Finland, some Finns politician propose “Japanese model”, where labor shortage caused by aging would be tackled by automatization. What they do not realize is that what They also do not take into account that Japanese elderly care can count on occupation level of the women in their late 50’s and 60’s being significantly lower than in Nordic welfare countries – as late as in the 1990’s women in Japan were almost required to leave Corporate jobs once they had children. As in Italy, these are the people taking care of their elderly parents. This system is going to collapse in 10 years, when women my age, obliged to work due to one salary not being enough, or just staying single because they’ve preferred work in Corporate environment, should start caring for their parents. And I’m not entirely sure robots can handle it all.
The pattern seems to be this:
European electorates have great anxiety about immigration into their homelands. Unlike the electorates, European politicians generally favour mass immigration into the lands they govern. Sometimes the politicians try to appease the electorates, or pay lip service to them, but in the long run, the politicians’ preference for mass immigration always wins out. (Follow the money).
Slowly, but surely, the electorates wise up to the duplicity of the politicians, and put their votes elsewhere.
And the irony Jonathan is that the main candidate hopeful of replacing Rutte as party leader is someone who landed on Kos with her mother and sister in an inflatable and ended up coming to the Netherlands as a refugee. She is now Justice Minister in the same party that wants to end the route by which she got to a safe place and that is what led to the collapse of the coalition. I see parallels in the UK.
Thank you so much for this Marjorie!
As a Dutch person, I was looking forward immensely to your view on the matter. I guess ‘faux comfort’ is a good description of the way many people have experienced his reign. I have to admit that it was comforting to have him as an PM when COVID happened (which caused me personally a lot of anxiety), because you could count on him to be there, to be cheerful and to manage.
I will never forgive him and his party for endlessly enabling those people who are well off already, to buy up houses and then rent them out to people with a modest income for exorbitant prices. Effectively dividing the Dutch population into one group who has houses, money, and wealth and another group which has to work mostly for their rent and has little security.
He is a consensus seeker and an extremely good debater. He also teaches history one day a week at a secondary school in The Hague. So I imagine, like Balkenende, he will find a role in academe. He should indeed have stepped down before the last election. What is concerning at the moment is the lack of suitable candidates to take over. All those one might have liked to have seen in the role are already jumping ship leaving only the most unsuitable or inexperienced eager to take over his mantle. I think we are going to see more political instability in the Netherlands for a while.