Dutch government collapses after Labour withdrawal from coalition
Row over extension of Dutch troops' tour of duty in Afghanistan forces Labour out of Jan Peter Balkenende's ruling coalition
The Dutch finance minister and Labour party leader Wouter Bos announces the withdrawal from the ruling three-party coalition. Photograph: REUTERS
The Dutch government has collapsed over disagreements on whether or not to extend troop deployment in Afghanistan.
The prime minister, Jan Peter Balkenende, said the Labour party – the second-largest party in his coalition government – was quitting.
Balkenende has been weighing up a request from Nato for Dutch troops to stay in Afghanistan beyond 2010.
Just under 2,000 Dutch personnel have been serving in the southern Afghan province of Uruzgan, where 21 Dutch soldiers have been killed.
Balkenende's Christian Democratic Alliance wants to keep a trimmed-down military presence in the region, but the Labour party has demanded the Netherlands sticks to a scheduled withdrawal. >>>>>
I have a few links Here and Here with some other reports mixed into some of the other posts on the Dutch Inquiry
Dutch PM offers resignation
20 February 2010
THE HAGUE - THE Dutch premier offered his government's resignation to Queen Beatrix on Saturday, a spokesman said as a spat over the country's Afghan military mission scuppered the ruling coalition.
'Contact has taken place' by telephone with the Queen, who is holidaying in Austria, Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende's spokesman Henk Brons told AFP. >>>>>
Dutch troops to pull out of Afghanistan by the end of year after coalition falls
20 February 2010
Dutch troops will almost certainly be withdrawn from Afghanistan this year following the collapse of the coalition government in The Hague.
The government fell because of a dispute between its main partners over how long its soldiers should stay in the war.
A withdrawal, expected to begin in August and be completed by December, would come as a major blow to Nato efforts to battle the Taliban and reassure Afghans that the West will stay and protect them. >>>>>
Analysis: Slow motion end to marriage of convenience
20 February 2010
This marriage of convenience was on its last legs, now it has finally been put out of its misery, writes Ron Meerhof in the Volkskrant.
All coalition parties lose in the ‘slow motion fall of Balkenende IV’, as Groen Links leader Femke Halsema described it.
Hints that this marriage of convenience was in trouble came a week and a half ago when Nato’s request for a prolonged Dutch military presence in Uruzgan was made public. None of the parties were trying to force a break up but both the Labour party and the Christian Democrats were to blame when it came. >>>>>
No comments:
Post a Comment