THE HAGUE – Frank Rijkaart of the Boer Burger Movement (BBB) has been appointed as the new Minister of the Interior and Kingdom Relations. The party confirmed the appointment on Friday. Fellow BBB member Eddie van Marum will continue serving as State Secretary for Kingdom Relations.

The appointment follows the collapse of the caretaker cabinet after Nieuw Sociaal Contract (NSC) pulled out of the coalition. With national elections scheduled for October 29, the VVD and BBB were required to fill the vacant ministerial posts. Rijkaart takes over the portfolio from Judith Uitermark (NSC).

Rijkaart, who has a background in the military and police, most recently served as deputy in the province of South Holland, where he handled agriculture and nitrogen policy. “I consider the request to become minister a great responsibility,” Rijkaart said upon his appointment. “I take this step with appreciation for what we have achieved together and with confidence in what lies ahead.”

Uitermark had previously assumed the ministerial role after the PVV’s departure from the coalition, which triggered the fall of the cabinet. In Parliament, she drew attention earlier this year with remarks that financial management in Curaçao, Aruba, and Sint Maarten remains problematic, citing limited administrative capacity as a key issue.

Rijkaart now inherits the challenging Kingdom Relations portfolio at a moment of political instability in the Netherlands and ongoing concerns about governance in the Caribbean parts of the Kingdom.