Dutch coalition sworn in
THE HAGUE- Agence France-Presse
A day before his visit to Turkey, Dutch Liberal Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s coalition government was sworn in Nov. 5. It is already under fire over pro-austerity measures seen as punishing his party’s core middle-class voters.Rutte’s VVD Party and Diederik Samsom’s PvdA came out on top in Sept. 12 elections and have been in coalition talks ever since, with Queen Beatrix swearing in Rutte’s new government on Nov. 5. But the ceremony was overshadowed by widespread unhappiness with an austerity package agreed by the two pro-European parties aimed at saving 16 billion euros by 2017. Rutte will visit Turkey between Nov. 5 and 7 with an economic agenda.
