Rutte IV - a podcast by Sam Rippon and Chern Han Mah

March election madness continues! This week's episode takes a look at the results of last week's Dutch General Election where Prime Minister Mark Rutte looks set to lead his VVD back into a coalition Government on the back of national gains for his party and coalition partners. It also includes a preview of next week's Israeli General Election where Benjamin Netanyahu is looking to find a way out of the stalemate that has led to this fourth legislative election in two years. Sam and Chern also look back on the results of the German State elections in Rhineland-Palatinate and Baden Württemberg where Angela Merkel's CDU suffered setbacks ahead of the September federal election.

Mark Rutte is on the verge of becoming the Netherlands' longest-serving Prime Minister as his party looks set to lead coalition negotiations following their victory in last week's election. His VVD party and D66 made gains, whilst the Labor Party failed to improve at all on their poor 2017 performance and Geert Wilders' PVV lost seats to other emerging far-right parties. Why did the Dutch left fail to make any signficant gains in this cycle? Did the child benefit scandal, that led to the resignation of the Government earlier this year, play a role? What are Mark Rutte's coalition options? What role with Mark Rutte play on the European level as he looks set to become Europe's longest serving incumbent by the end of the year? All these questions, and more, answered in this week's edition.

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