Thread by @CasMudde

Today is Mark Rutte’s 4000th day as @MinPres of the Netherlands. 🇳🇱

A thread on his achievements for Dutch liberal democracy. 🧵

1. As junior minister, Rutte was convicted for discriminating on the basis of ethnicity.

2. In his first run as VVD leader, he got fewer preferential votes than #2 (Rita Verdonk),

This was the first time in Dutch history that a arty leader did not get the most preferential votes of his party.

3. He was the first to govern with the support of a clearly far right party (PVV of Geert Wilders).*

* Unlike PVV in 2010, LPF was not broadly seen as far right in 2002.

4. His first government fell after 2 years.

It’s main legacy is the mainstreaming of the far right.

5. His third government fell again! That’s 2 out of 3!

6. Rutte also lost a motion of disapproval as PM (after his government had already fallen!).

While non-binding, two other ministers resigned after losing such a motion… Rutte did not.

7. Despite all this, Rutte remains quite popular and his party — which has become his personal political vehicle — remains (by far) the biggest party in the country!

8. Incidentally, under Rutte, the election program of his party VVD has been flagged for anti- and undemocratic content three times in a row.

9. I’m not even talking about his policies: dismantling welfare state, increasing economic inequality, creating housing shortage, billions of corporate welfare, surveillance of poor and people of color…

10. The fact that this man is about to become the longest-serving PM in Dutch postwar history tells you everything about the egocentrism and political passivity of (many/most) Dutch people, MPs, and media! #TheEnd