Dutch now have former secret service chief as prime minister

Former spy chief Dick Schoof was voted in as Dutch prime minister on Tuesday, heading a right-wing coalition cabinet with a mandate to implement the country's "strictest-ever" immigration policy.

Two hundred and twenty-three days after far-right leader Geert Wilders swept to an election victory that stunned Europe and the world, Schoof takes over from Mark Rutte after 14 years in power.

Wilders was forced to shelve his own ambitions to be prime minister to keep rocky coalition talks on track, some negotiation partners considered his anti-Muslim and eurosceptic statements too extreme to lead the nation.

Instead, the four coalition partners agreed their leaders would not serve in government, compromising on Schoof, 67, who was previously running the Dutch Secret Service AIVD.

He has vowed to implement "decisively" the coalition plans for the "strictest-ever admission policy for asylum and the most comprehensive package for getting a grip on migration".

The 26-page coalition agreement, titled "Hope, courage and pride", also called to examine the idea of moving the Dutch embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

"Without a party"

Schoof, an avid marathon runner, has said he aims to be "a prime minister for all Dutch citizens", adding: "I am without a party. I don't see myself kowtowing to Mr Wilders".

He "will have a lot of work keeping ideological and personal conflicts under control", Sarah de Lange, professor of political pluralism at the University of Amsterdam, told French press agency AFP.

She said Wilders will have plenty of work keeping his own PVV (Freedom Party) in check and Schoof would be given space.

"Given his extensive experience leading government agencies, he will surely know how to defend his position," she said.

"It is still an open question though, how he will respond if Wilders tries to put him under pressure by voicing public criticism of his functioning" on social media.

Dutch daily De Volkskrant said in an opinion piece that the "Schoof coalition" was the "biggest political gamble" since WW2.

"Even after seven months, there is no trust between the coalition parties. The Schoof cabinet becomes a team in which the protagonists watch each other with one eye, looking at they way out with the other."

(With newswires)