A sticky mess for 'Teflon Mark' | BBC Hague correspondent - Anna Holligen |

The scene inside the normally tame Dutch parliament was at times gladiatorial.
For 12 gruelling hours, MPs questioned Mark Rutte's credibility, integrity and history of memory loss.

When the notes emerged revealing he had in fact discussed Pieter Omtzigt's future, he said he had misremembered and not lied.

The man nicknamed "Teflon Mark" demonstrated Houdini-like abilities to extricate himself from what had seemed an inescapable mess.

And yet images of the caretaker prime minister, sprinting through the corridors of parliament in the early hours of the morning, pursued by journalists with their microphones attached to sticks - to allow for socially-distanced interviews - gave the impression of an animal being hunted.
But his real predators are inside the chamber.

Mr Rutte made it back to the blue seats alongside them on time and survived, but he's bruised and vulnerable, his authority has been compromised.

This turbulent experience will inevitably have an impact on the shape and direction of the new government, and there are no guarantees Mark Rutte will be leading it.

He must still find other parties prepared to join forces with him to form the next coalition.

His closest allies and intended coalition partners, Sigrid Kaag and Wopke Hoekstra, proposed the motion critical of his conduct. Whether their aim was to throw him a lifeline or lay a gangplank, only the choppy weeks ahead will tell.

Morning papers, headlines ...

A damaged Rutte loses role in coalition talks | NRC |

A fortnight ago the election gave Mark Rutte a mandate ... the scouts and particularly Mark Rutte created a mess and left The Hague in chaos. Also the second pair of scouts were dismissed during the long night debate as all trust in Rutte and his Conservative party VVD was lost. A new scout will be appointed and needs to be a person independent from the leading parties in The Hague. The proces has start from scratch and will take a long time to build a coalition.

Mark Rutte was saved by the votes of the four parties in the present caretaker coalition. A show presented to the electorate that clinging to power is more important than transparency and full disclosure.

Rutte will be remembered not for longevity of power, but for his preference to big business and distancing government from the people it should serve. The age of greed, the individual and the stock market has infiltrated Dutch society. For me it's unrecognizable as social democracy should behold solidarity with the less fortunate. Reagonomics on a global scale.

'Sapere aude'