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The Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte survived a vote of no confidence in parliament.

The MPs gave him a narrow majority on Friday morning.

“I will remain Prime Minister.

I will work hard to regain confidence, ”said Rutte after the vote. 

The opposition parties that initiated the no-confidence vote against the long-time head of government on Thursday voted unanimously against Rutte.

He was supported by the center-left party D66 and the Christian Democrats.

Both parties were part of the previous coalition led by Rutte.

All parties with the exception of Rutte's People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) also voted for a motion criticizing the head of government's behavior.

The opposition accuses Rutte of lying during the talks about the formation of a new coalition.

Before the vote in parliament, the prime minister rejected the allegations.

"I wasn't lying," he said.

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Rutte had come under pressure because of his dealings with the MP Pieter Omtzigt from the Christian Democratic party CDA.

This had helped to uncover a scandal over child benefits, which led to Rutte's resignation in January.

His government has been in office since then.

In the parliamentary elections in mid-March, Rutte's VVD emerged as the strongest force.

Possible coalition partners are again the D66 and the Christian Democrats.

Last week, on the sidelines of the deliberations on a new coalition, journalists photographed a note that suggested that Rutte had earmarked a ministerial post for his critic Omtzigt. 

The head of government initially stated that this was not an issue during the talks.

When it came out that this was the case, Rutte emphasized that he hadn't been able to remember it at first.

It only occurred to him during a phone call on Thursday morning.