AMSTERDAM, Jan 30 (Reuters) – Frans Weekers, the Dutch
secretary of state for finance, said late on Wednesday he would
quit after he was criticised in parliament over his department’s
handling of social security payments.
Weekers, 46, will formally offer his resignation to King
Willem-Alexander on Thursday, a spokesman for the ministry said,
adding that it could be several days before a successor is
appointed.
Prime Minister Mark Rutte has introduced unpopular austerity
measures including cuts in the country’s generous benefits
system in an attempt to bring the budget deficit in line with
European Union requirements.
Weekers, a member of Rutte’s Liberal Party, is in charge of
tax affairs in the finance ministry – a position that in the
past has been a stepping stone to the position of finance
minister.
But since his appointment in 2010, he has come under attack
over several tax issues including the Netherlands’ role as a tax
haven for some of the world’s biggest companies, while
allegations that busloads of Bulgarians had travelled to the
Netherlands to commit benefits fraud prompted a public uproar.
Most recently, his department was criticised because many
people who were entitled to benefits had failed to receive them
on time following the introduction of a new system intended to
simplify payments and reduce fraud.
(Reporting by Sara Webb; Editing by Eric Walsh)
