As divorce proceedings have been started to put an end to “a loveless marriage” the papers are speculating who will come out best,

Mark Rutte put a bomb under the consensus culture by “showing an entirely new side to his character”, the NRC said in its analysis.

“The prime minister, who for years has had the image of a dealmaker and friend to everyone, started batting for his own party, knowingly putting the coalition in danger’”, the paper wrote.

Friday had to be the day a new policy on migration would be decided on. If D66 and the ChristenUnie in particular, demurred he would put it to the vote in “an ultimatum and a threat rolled into one”, the paper said.

The VVD “has opted for the gamble” that a hard stance on immigration will win votes, particularly in the light of the rise of the BoerBurgerBeweging, which has drawn level with the VVD in the polls, the NRC concluded.

The marriage of convenience between the four coalition parties was “doomed from the start”, with “fights and lack of trust” always around the corner, the Volkskrant said.

The drawn-out process of compensating the parents of the childcare benefit scandal, the sluggish approach to the repair of the quake-stricken Groningen homes and the endless and ultimately fruitless attempts to achieve a coherent nitrogen policy, including an agreement on agriculture, made sure the coalition would not survive for long, the papers wrote.

Built on sand

“That they werent able to reach agreement on asylum even when early elections would benefit none of the parties, is characteristic for a coalition built on sand,” the paper said.

Telegraaf political commentator Wouter de Winther said the formation of a new government could take “a very long time”, particularly since Mark Rutte has reportedly said he would like to stay on as leader. “Rutte’s name is mud for many politicians and parties could refuse to accept him as prime minister,” De Winther said.

The fall of the cabinet is the start of a long period of political uncertainty, the Financieele Dagblad said in its analysis.

In the short term it means many proposals which coalition partners were at loggerheads about will be declared “controversial”, which means no decisions can be taken until the next government is in place some time next year.

“That will undoubtedly include the legal requirement for municipalities to take in a certain number of asylum seekers,” the paper said, as well as the plan to accelerate the 50% reduction in nitrogen emissions by 2030 instead of 2035, which is now “doomed”.

The proposed reforms to the housing market, which included regulating mid-level rents, something the VVD was not happy about, will probably suffer the same fate, the paper said.