Amsterdam: Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende announced on Saturday the second largest party in his ruling coalition is quitting the government over irreconcilable differences on whether to extend the Netherlands` military mission in Afghanistan.
Balkenende made no mention of elections as he spoke to reporters after a 16-hour Cabinet meeting in The Hague that ended close to dawn.
However, the resignation of the Labor Party would leave his government with an unworkable majority.
Balkenende said his Christian Democratic Alliance would continue in office together with the small Christian Union, and would "make available" Labor`s seats in the Cabinet.
It was unclear what his intention was, but political analysts said early elections appeared inevitable. The coalition, elected to a four-year term, marks its third year in office on Monday.
The political outcome also left uncertainty over the fate of the 1,600 Dutch soldiers in the southern Afghan province of Uruzgan, where they were deployed in 2006 for a two-year stint that was extended until next August.
Labor demanded that Dutch troops leave Uruzgan as scheduled. Balkenende`s Christian Democratic Alliance wanted to keep a trimmed down military presence in the restive province, where 21 soldiers have been killed.
NATO sent a letter to the government asking if it would consider staying longer — a move that the Western alliance normally would do only if it had a clear signal of agreement.
"You could see from the last few days that we couldn`t come up with an agreement," Balkenende said. "Where there is no trust, it is difficult to work together. There is no good path to allow this cabinet to go further."
The split came after a build-up of tension over several weeks between Balkenende and Labor Party leader Wouter Bos, the finance minister, mainly over Afghanistan and the government`s earlier political support for the war in Iraq.
It was an uncomfortable alliance of convenience from the start, with the two leaders exchanging unusually sharp barbs during the 2006 election campaign.
The acrimony surfaced again during a parliamentary debate Thursday over Afghanistan, with two government leaders in open discord in the face of concerted attacks by the opposition parties.
Bureau Report
