Career politician Sharon Dijksma is being widely tipped as the successor to Wilma Mansveld at the infrastructure ministry, following the junior minister’s decision to quit.

Mansveld stood down on Wednesday following the publication of a damning report on the Fyra high-speed train project which she was in charge of.

Dijksma, who has declined to speculate on the reports, is currently junior minister at the economic affairs ministry. She returns from China, where she is part of the massive Dutch trade mission, later today.

Asked about the role by reporters in China, Dijksma said it would be sensible if Labour leader Diederik Samsom took his time to decide on a replacement. The PvdA is one of two parties in the current coalition and the infrastructure job falls under its remit.

Overload

Meanwhile, prime minister Mark Rutte has said he will re-examine the division of tasks within the ministry following Mansveld’s departure.

Opposition MPs have questioned the way the junior minister had to deal with all the ‘headache’ issues, such as the railways, KLM and Schiphol, and the environment. By contrast, her boss Melanie Schultz is concerned with roads and the waterways and has no thorny political issues to deal with.

Schultz reportedly made not having to deal with the railways a condition of her appointment as infrastructure minister after the 2012 election.