Dutch PM resigns as budget plan stalls

THE HAGUE, Netherlands, April 23 (UPI) -- Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte resigned Monday after losing key support in Parliament for his plan for sweeping spending cuts, officials said.

Rutte's departure will lead to new elections, which Nos television said would most likely be conducted before the end of June.

Some members of Parliament have said the elections should be held as soon as possible because of pressure from the European Union for the Netherlands to come up with a workable plan to reduce its budget deficit to the 3 percent mandated by the EU, Dutchnews.nl said.

Rutte's hawkish budget proposal was deemed too Draconian by the right-wing Freedom Party, which withdrew its support for the plan over the weekend.

Dutchnews.nl reported that opposition leaders said they would work with the government to come up with an alternative plan that meets at least some of the EU's requirements.