‘Teflon’ Mark Rutte is longest-serving Dutch prime minister

By MIKE CORDER
Associated Press

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Mark Rutte has become the longest-serving Dutch prime minister and the 55-year-old leader known by some as “Teflon Mark” because scandals don’t stick to him is showing no sign of slowing despite unrest gripping his nation and his party’s popularity sliding in polls. He calls his job “the greatest job in the world, an unbelievable honor.” Rutte, leader of the center-right People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy, or VVD, and head of a four-party coalition, said he had no plans to celebrate the milestone that he called “a footnote” and said he would not be in the country on the day. While his party has been declining in recent polls, it remains the largest in the splintered Dutch political landscape.