Dutch elections on June 9 after government collapse

Dutch parliamentary elections will be held on June 9 after the government's weekend collapse over the country's military mission in Afghanistan, outgoing Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende said yesterday.

"An outgoing Cabinet... will prepare for elections on June 9," the premier told journalists in The Hague, three days after the PvdA Labour Party walked out of his Christian Democrat-led government.

"That means that the existing Cabinet, Balkenende IV, albeit with a different composition, will take care of running affairs."

The caretaker Cabinet will comprise ministers and deputy ministers of Mr Balkenende's Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) and the Christian Union (CU) minority partner.

Mr Balkenende tendered the resignations of the 12 Labour Party Cabinet members to Queen Beatrix on Saturday after the party pulled out of his centre-left coalition demanding the withdrawal by year-end of 1,950 Dutch troops deployed in Afghanistan.

He also offered to relinquish the 12 CDA- and three CU-held Cabinet posts. Mr Balkenende has led four cabinets since 2002, three of which collapsed. One was also an interim government.

The government communications service yesterday said the Queen had accepted the PvdA resignations and asked CDA and CU ministers and deputy ministers to continue performing their functions until elections are held.

Nato had asked the Netherlands to extend its four-year-old Afghanistan mission by one year to August 2011, though in a different form - a request the CDA and CU had wanted to discuss.

But the PvdA said last week it would not support an extension under any circumstances, resulting in a public coalition spat as the party was accused of abusing the issue for political gain ahead of March 3 municipal elections.

The Dutch deployment in Afghanistan was unpopular with voters from the outset.

After Mr Balkenende announced the collapse of his government, the Queen held consultations with political party leaders and advisers at her working palace in The Hague on Monday and yesterday.

All parties had ruled out any chance of reconciliation, with PvdA leader Wouter Bos calling for elections to be held as soon as possible.

The CDA has 41 in the 150 seat parliament, the PvdA 33 and the CU six.

A new poll showed PvdA gaining on its dwindling support since withdrawing from the coalition, rising from 12 assumed seats last week to 19. The CDA has dropped to 26.

Mr Bos also overtook Mr Balkenende in the popularity rankings, with 21 per cent of people polled saying they wanted the PvdA leader as premier and 16 per cent opting for Mr Balkenende.

In the Dutch system of proportional representation, it is nearly impossible for one party to win an absolute majority in the 150-seat Parliament, and it can sometimes take months to cobble together a viable coalition government.

The communication service said the six portfolios held by the PvdA would be taken over temporarily by three ministers of the CDA and three of the CU.

Mr Bos's Finance Ministry would be taken over by his CDA deputy, Jan Kees de Jager.

AFP