The Dutch government headed by Mark Rutte resigned on Friday over the "child aid scandal", which consisted of the disclosure of fraud charges filed against thousands of family breadwinners, threatening political tensions in the country.
The case comes two months before legislative elections scheduled for March 17, and in the midst of the crisis to combat the outbreak of the new Corona virus, which has made the Netherlands suffer under the most severe restrictions.
The Dutch authorities have wrongly accused thousands of breadwinners of fraud and demanded child benefits, amid forcing many to return huge sums of money, and making them suffer from severe financial crises.
And it happened that some of those targeted by the tax-collection authorities have dual nationalities, which sheds light again on old criticisms against what is described as systematic racism in the Netherlands.
Rutte - who has been in power since 2010 - stated that his government will continue its work as a caretaker authority and oversee efforts to combat the outbreak of the Covid-19 epidemic until the legislative elections.
"This is our responsibility, we are unanimous that joint responsibility should be taken when the whole system fails," Rutte said at a press conference after a meeting of his four-party government in The Hague, noting that he submitted "the complete resignation of the government to the king."
Issues the election
Opinion polls indicate that Mark Rutte’s "Freedom and Democracy" party may lead the upcoming elections, and the outgoing prime minister will win a fourth term.
A parliamentary investigation revealed last December that subsidies had been cut to thousands of families wrongly accused of committing fraud between 2013 and 2019.
The government has asked many families to return sums estimated at tens of thousands of euros that they have used over the years.
Media reports indicate that many husbands have separated in light of the financial crisis they suffered as a result.
Pressure mounted on Rutte to resign over this case, amid the hinting of the possibility of a vote of no confidence in his government.
Dutch media reported that about 26,000 people were affected by this scandal. It was also revealed that officials within the tax authorities had described a process of "racial profiling" for about 11,000 people based on their possession of dual nationality, including some who faced fraud charges.
The Dutch government had announced compensation of not less than 30,000 euros for each breadwinner who was wrongly accused, in a step that was not sufficient to calm the uproar after the scandal was revealed.