THE HAGUE - According to insiders, the new Dutch cabinet Rutte IV will probably be sworn in by King Willem-Alexander in the second week of January. There are already the necessary names of new ministers, but nothing has been confirmed for the time being.

The website Geenstijl is the most complete and has published a complete list of names of candidate ministers.

Two D66 ministers would come to the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations (BZK). The name of Kees Verhoeven is mentioned for the post of Undersecretary for Kingdom Relations, who would therefore succeed Raymond Knops (CDA). Verhoeven (45) was a Member of Parliament until the elections of March 2021, where he dealt with, among other things, Europe, ICT and competition. He has denied on social media that he is eligible.

Mayor Franc Weerwind (57) of Almere would become minister of the Interior and Kingdom Relations. He is one of the few Dutch administrators with a Surinamese background and has received a lot of appreciation in various municipalities.

In the past, D66 has often supplied ministers for Kingdom relations. Well-known names are Alexander Pechtold, Roger van Boxtel and Thom de Graaf, the current vice president of the Council of State. D66 is also the party of current Member of Parliament Jorien Wuite, who has roots in Sint Maarten and is very active in the Kingdom Relations Committee.

If the list of Geen Stijl is correct, Knops will become Minister of Defense in the new cabinet. He is known to aspire to that post. Knops has a military background, he was in the Royal Netherlands Air Force and served in Iraq for a few months on a military project.

For the BES islands, the item Social Affairs and Employment is important in connection with the poverty policy and the benchmark for a social minimum. According to Geen Stijl, Carola Schouten (ChristenUnie) is named for that ministerial position, who was in the previous cabinet on Agriculture, Nature Management and Food Quality (LNV). The VVD and Mark Harbers would supply the minister for poverty policy in the same department. At LNV, Esther de Lange (CDA) would hold sway with Erik van der Berg (VVD) as Minister for Nature and Nitrogen.

Whether the names are correct will probably only become clear after the turn of the year. Next week the formation will be done. In addition, a background check must also be done on the candidates selected by formateur Rutte, except for the ministers who were already in the Rutte III cabinet.