Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and two of his ministers faced a storm of criticism in parliament Wednesday for their handling of a 15-year-old deal involving a former cabinet member and a notorious drug dealer.

Major opposition parties late Wednesday stopped short of a vote of no confidence in Rutte, his fellow VVD party Justice Minister Ard van der Steur and his deputy Klaas Dijkhoff after an eight-hour debate.

But they did propose a so-called "motion of censure", a serious sanction available to lawmakers if they disapprove of the cabinet's policy on a certain issue.

The motion was eventually narrowly rejected by 77 votes to 65 in the 150-seat Lower House of parliament following the debate, which Rutte called "the most difficult in my 13-year political career."

The issue centers around Rutte and his cabinet's handling of a secret deal struck between prosecutors and a convicted drug baron in 2000.

A damning report released last week savaged a decision to pay the drug trafficker, only referred to as "Cees H.", 4.7 million guilders (2.7 million euros), an amount much higher than was first believed, following an agreement whose precise details still remain shadowy.

The payment was made after authorities seized the gangster's assets but were subsequently unable to prove they had been amassed through criminal activity.

Former justice minister Ivo Opstelten and his former deputy Fred Teeven -- who orchestrated the deal -- resigned earlier this year when details of the controversy were made public.

The deal made by Teeven saw the money paid back via accounts in Luxembourg without notifying tax authorities.

Opstelten last year denied evidence of the agreement but then admitted in March that proof indeed existed, before tendering his resignation.

The saga over the weekend also claimed the scalp of former Lower House speaker Anouchka van Miltenburg, who came under fire herself for withholding crucial details about the deal and its aftermath.

Van Miltenburg's resignation as the third high-profile VVD member has thrown a shadow over Rutte's premiership.

On Wednesday a contrite Rutte offered his "sincerest apologies." "We have made mistakes. We've learnt our lesson," he said.

But opposition parties remained unconvinced.

"The prime minister may have sincerely apologized, but our doubts remain," said Gert-Jan Segers of the Christian Union party, who proposed the motion.

"The Dutch people have been lied to and deceived," far-right populist politician Geert Wilders added.