Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte speaks at a press conference in The Hague on July 7, 2023 to announce his resignation decision (Photo: ANP/VNA)

The prime minister declined to comment on the hour-and-a-half-long meeting after he left the palace in The Hague.  

The next major step will be to dissolve parliament to hold an election, expected in November. But first there will be a debate about the government's resignation in the Dutch lower house planned for Monday.

The sticking point leading to the crisis is the parties in Rutte's coalition have been disagreeing with his plan to tighten restrictions on family reunification of asylum seekers, a measure to limit the number of migrants following last year's scandal involving overcrowded refugee centers that left one child dead and hundreds forced to sleep outside.

The governing coalition is the fourth coalition led by Rutte since taking office for the first time in 2010. The four-party coalition only began to take power last January after 271 days of negotiations but still set deeply divided.

Last Friday, Rutte already presented the written resignation of his Cabinet to the King but will remain in charge of an caretaker government until elections take place.