Dutch Political Uncertainty Boosts Far-Right Party - by Eric Westervelt

The Dutch coalition government collapsed last weekend over the country's commitment to the NATO mission in Afghanistan, setting the stage for early elections in June and putting politics in the Netherlands in turmoil.

Edwin Bakker, an analyst with the Netherlands Institute of International Relations, says outgoing Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende of the Christian Democrat Party may have set some kind of Dutch record in the past eight years. "We've never seen a prime minister with four Cabinets and four governments falling, some within a couple of months, some within a few years," Bakker said.

Balkenende will remain in office as head of a minority government until June 9 elections. His government broke apart when 12 Cabinet officers quit the coalition on Saturday after the left-leaning Labor Party refused a NATO request to keep Dutch troops in the southern Afghan province of Uruzgan.

Note EU-Digest: The majority of Dutch public opinion is against the continuation of Dutch troops in  the southern Afghan province of Uruzgan. Left leaning political parties should capitalize on this fact and make sure the Dutch voter must realize that a return of Mr. Balkenende and a right wing coalition into power will mean more Dutch lives will be lost in Afghanistan.

For more: Dutch Political Uncertainty Boosts Far-Right Party : NPR