The cabinet will look for as broad support as possible for its plans, in both the upper and lower houses of parliament, prime minister Mark Rutte told the senate on Tuesday.

Rutte was speaking during a debate in the senate on the government’s strategy for the coming year. The Labour-Liberal cabinet is eight seats short of a majority in the 75 seat upper house.
With ministers asking so much from the ordinary citizen, a ‘simple majority’ in favour of their plans is not enough, Rutte told senators.
Criticism
During the debate, the cabinet’s plans were heavily criticised by the opposition.
The Christian Democrats and Socialists, both of whom could help the coalition to a majority, are unhappy at plans to reduce the income gap between rich and poor. The CDA says middle income families are being hardest hit while the SP does not think the changes go far enough.
The aim of cabinet policy is to ‘make the economic dip as shallow as possible’ so the Netherlands can profit when the recovery sets in, the prime minister said.
Earlier stories
Crucial government plans face problems in the senate