The secretary general of the justice and security ministry is resigning to give the new ministers a clean slate, the justice ministry said in a statement on Friday.

Pieter Cloo reached the decision together with housing minister Stef Blok who is acting justice minister pending the appointment of a new team, the statement said.

Justice minister Ivo Opstelten and his deputy Fred Teeven stood down last week after it transpired Teeven had sanctioned the repayment of 4.7 million guilders to a convicted drugs smuggler and Opstelten had misled parliament about the amount.

Cloo has held the role since the 2012 general election.

Two MPs from the right-wing Liberal VVD are set to be named the new justice minister and deputy, Dutch media report on Friday.

Ard van der Steur, 45, who has been an MP since 2010, is set for the minister’s job, where he will focus on law and order and public safety.

The Telegraaf reports that MP Klaas Dijkhoff will become junior justice minister. Dijkhoff, 34, was born in Germany and studied law in Tilburg, where he was a lecturer up to 2009. He became an MP in 2010.