Dutch politics explained

2006-06-30 12:48

The Hague - The Dutch government has fallen apart after the smallest coalition party D66 withdrew its support and its ministers because of the immigration minister's handling of the citizenship of a Somali-born former Dutch lawmaker.

Here are some facts about Dutch politics and the steps towards new elections:

The Dutch parliament has 150 seats. Religious democrats CDA won 44 seats in the 2003 elections, two more than Labour which were kept out of the centre-right coalition government.

If elections were held now, Labour stands to gain two seats to reach a total of 44, while CDA will lose between six to nine seats from the current 44, according to opinion polls by Interview NSS/NOVA and Peil.nl.

Left-of-centre D66 will be halved to three seats. Former D66 senator and political scientist Jan Vis told daily newspaper de Volkskrant: "It's a fact that the party which causes a government's collapse is not rewarded in subsequent elections."

The right-wing VVD, the third coalition party, will gain three to five seats from their current 28 seats.

Labour leader Wouter Bos was leading by a much wider margin in opinion polls in March, which gave his party 50 seats, before his popularity came under pressure after he presented plans to reform the Dutch state pension scheme, suggesting higher taxes for wealthy pensioners.

The left wing Socialist Party are set to more than double to 17 seats while the Green Left party will grow to 11 from a current eight seats. Together with Labour they would need at least another five seats to get a parliamentary majority.

Under Dutch state law it is common to call for new elections within three months of a government's resignation, but these may be postponed if a cabinet continues to govern without the minister(s) which have resigned.

Head of state Queen Beatrix, after discussions with representatives from political parties, may ask Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende to proceed governing the country with the VVD and CDA ministers, but without the two D66 ministers, in a so-called rump cabinet.

A rump cabinet deals only with running policy issues until new elections are held. A VVD and CDA rump cabinet may have to rely on the support of small right wing parties to finalise its plans to slim down the Dutch welfare state.

- Reuters