Forming a new government is becoming increasingly difficult for Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte after on Saturday his coalition partner ruled out joining a new administration led by him, Reuters reported. The decision threw into further disarray already stalled talks about forming a new government, setting the discussions back by weeks if not months and making it virtually impossible to predict the outcome.

Mark Rutte said on Thursday that he wants a quick start to negotiations on forming the next Dutch government, a night after his party took a majority, clearing the way for his fourth term as prime minister, dpa reported. But it won't be clear sailing for the head of the centre-right People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD).

Dutch PM Mark Rutte claimed an “overwhelming” victory in elections on Wednesday, vowing to use his fourth term in office to rebuild the country after the coronavirus pandemic, AFP reported.

The Dutch government on Tuesday said that it would adjust rules for accepting mail-in ballots in an ongoing national election, after reports people had made a minor mistake in the procedure, Reuters reported.

Polling stations opened across the Netherlands on Monday in a general election that has been spread over three days to allow people to vote safely during the coronavirus pandemic, AP reported.

Dutch riot police sealed off the area near The Hague’s central station on Sunday, on the eve of the 3-day elections in the country, after hundreds of demonstrators refused to disperse, news wires reported.

A contentious curfew imposed last month by the Dutch government to reduce the spread of coronavirus will remain in place for the time being, as a legal challenge against the regulation is mounted, dpa reported. The Netherlands has been under a 9 pm to 4:30 am curfew since 23 January.

Groups of youths confronted police in Dutch towns and cities on Monday night, defying the country’s Covid-19 curfew and throwing fireworks, news wires reported. Police in the port city of Rotterdam used a water cannon and tear gas in an attempt to disperse a crowd of rioters who also looted shops.

Dutch PM Mark Rutte extended his country’s tough five-week lockdown by a further three weeks  on Tuesday amid concerns that infection rates are not falling quickly enough and fears about the new more transmissible variant first detected in the UK, news wires reported.

Dutch PM Mark Rutte on Tuesday warned that if infections don’t start declining again, he couldn’t rule out tightening the current “partial lockdown” in the Netherlands before Christmas, news wires reported.