Dutch government collapses over Afghanistan

Marco · Post by **Marco** » Sat 20th Feb 2010 09:01 am

This is very bad news since Wilders is probably the most popular politician in the country.

Saturday 20 February 2010

The Dutch government collapsed in the early hours of Saturday morning over Labour's insistence that the Netherlands pull out of Afghanistan this year.

After two days of intensive talks and a bitter parliamentary debate, it had become increasingly clear the gulf between prime minister Jan Peter Balkenende and deputy prime minister Wouter Bos was too great to bridge.

Labour leader Bos stated earlier this week that he wanted a decision on Nato's request to the Netherlands to stay in Afghanistan at Friday's cabinet meeting. And that decision would have to be a no, he said repeatedly.

Balkenende said he wanted to keep all options open and was sticking to the March 1 deadline.

Statement

'I have to conclude that there is no fruitful path to allow this cabinet to continue,' Balkenende said in a short statement.

The Labour party's comments had placed a 'political mortgage' on the cabinet, he said.

Efforts to restore trust between the parties had failed, he said. 'Given the challenges facing the Netherlands, what is needed is strength, not the easy way out.'

Resignations

The prime minister will now offer his government's resignation to the queen, who is skiing in Lech, Austria.

This is the fourth Balkenende government not to complete a formal four year term. Two others collapsed over political infighting and one was a minority cabinet.

A general election will take place within three months and will not affect the local elections which take place on March 3.

Withdrawal

The collapse of the government means that the withdrawal of Dutch troops from Afghanistan will now begin in August because caretaker ministers are not allowed to make controversial decisions.

'A withdrawal will damage the reputation of the Dutch as a reliable partner that is willing and able to contribute to important military missions,' Edwin Bakker, a senior research fellow at the Clingendael Institute in The Hague told news agency Reuters.

The Netherlands has some 1,800 soldiers and support staff in Afghanistan, mainly in the southern region of Uruzgan. In total, 21 Dutch soldiers have been killed in the region.

Decisions

Other important decisions will also now be put on hold. This means there is unlikely to be any moves on government spending cuts planned for 2011 to get the national finances back under control. The budget deficit is set to reach 6.1% this year, double the EU limit.

Some 20 committees are currently looking at all areas of government activity in an effort to find €35bn in savings.

According to the latest opinion polls, the CDA and Geert Wilders' anti-immigration party PVV will be the biggest parties after the vote. But there are indications Labour's decision to pull out of the government may boost its electoral fortunes.

Was Labour right to pull out? Take part in our poll

More on this

Sir Niall of Essex-sire · Sat 20th Feb 2010 12:07 pm

Jeez. I hope the Dutch dont go for Wilders.

Marco · Post by **Marco** » Sat 20th Feb 2010 03:45 pm

The irony here is that the issue of Afghanistan may lead to further restrictions on coffeeshops (which sadly is what seems to concern most visitors lol) as it seems very unlikely that new elections will not result in a move to the right.

darkglobe · Post by **darkglobe** » Sat 20th Feb 2010 04:48 pm

Do you think that the "Coffee Shop/Marijuana" question will be very prominent in the electioneering ?...
As i see it,at least we've got a years grace on any C/S closures...apparently ,the elections will be in the Autumn,and then it takes a few months for parties to form a coalition Government...or so ive read here... http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world ... 05407.html

Marco · Post by **Marco** » Sat 20th Feb 2010 04:50 pm

darkglobe wrote:Do you think that the "Coffee Shop/Marijuana" question will be very prominent in the electioneering ?...
As i see it,at least we've got a years grace on any C/S closures...apparently ,the elections will be in the Autumn,and then it takes a few months for parties to form a coalition Government...or so ive read...

No idea, it does not seem to be a hot button issue at all here.

Ingwey Gooblebogger · Sun 21st Feb 2010 01:04 am

'A withdrawal will damage the reputation of the Dutch as a reliable partner that is willing and able to contribute to important military missions,' Edwin Bakker, a senior research fellow at the Clingendael Institute in The Hague told news agency Reuters

The above quote is BULLSHIT.

The Dutch said they would help in Afghanistan and they had a pre-determined (and pre-agreed) time limit for this help, which they extended a few times.

Picture this analogous scenario:

Your lazy lame slack-ass acquaintance (not even a close friend) does no planning, and no pre-move work or preparations, and than begs you, at the last minute to, help them move.

You grudgingly say, "Okay, but I will quit by noon." At noon you say, "I'll stay another 2 hours" ...repeat this a few times...until at 8:00 PM you say, "I am leaving now", and you then promptly leave.

The next day the slack-ass acquaintance says about you, "Geez that guy is completely unreliable"!

Really? .....A fair comment?.... NO F*CKING WAY!!

Second, regarding the outcome of the next election; the left may actually get a boost from this because the war is unpopular. The only thing the Dutch right does is rant about immigrants, which is nothing new. So, they already had the xenophobe vote, I doubt they can draw too many more folks to the side of xenophobia.

If Labour, D66, and other left-leaning parties can get their shit together then maybe it might be centre-left coalition the next time. We can only hope.

Marco · Post by **Marco** » Sun 21st Feb 2010 08:37 am

Ingwey Gooblebogger wrote:
'A withdrawal will damage the reputation of the Dutch as a reliable partner that is willing and able to contribute to important military missions,' Edwin Bakker, a senior research fellow at the Clingendael Institute in The Hague told news agency Reuters
The above quote is BULLSHIT.

The Dutch said they would help in Afghanistan and they had a pre-determined (and pre-agreed) time limit for this help, which they extended a few times.

Picture this analogous scenario:

Your lazy lame slack-ass acquaintance (not even a close friend) does no planning, and no pre-move work or preparations, and than begs you, at the last minute to, help them move.

You grudgingly say, "Okay, but I will quit by noon." At noon you say, "I'll stay another 2 hours" ...repeat this a few times...until at 8:00 PM you say, "I am leaving now", and you then promptly leave.

The next day the slack-ass acquaintance says about you, "Geez that guy is completely unreliable"!

Really? .....A fair comment?.... NO F*CKING WAY!!

Second, regarding the outcome of the next election; the left may actually get a boost from this because the war is unpopular. The only thing the Dutch right does is rant about immigrants, which is nothing new. So, they already had the xenophobe vote, I doubt they can draw too many more folks to the side of xenophobia.

If Labour, D66, and other left-leaning parties can get their shit together then maybe it might be centre-left coalition the next time. We can only hope.

You are missing one point though. During the campaign, Obama made it very clear that he would add more troops in Afghanistan, and ask for more help from NATO. This should not be even a tiny surprise to those (like me) who voted for him. This should also not be a surprise to the many, many Europeans who supported Obama.

There has now been a second request (yesterday) from NATO for them to stay so I can imagine the pressure is immense.

darkglobe · Post by **darkglobe** » Sun 21st Feb 2010 02:33 pm

Afghanistan stand boosts Labour vote... http://www.dutchnews.nl/news/archives/2 ... _labou.php

Ingwey Gooblebogger · Mon 22nd Feb 2010 03:58 am

You are missing one point though. During the campaign, Obama made it very clear that he would add more troops in Afghanistan, and ask for more help from NATO. This should not be even a tiny surprise to those (like me) who voted for him. This should also not be a surprise to the many, many Europeans who supported Obama.

There has now been a second request (yesterday) from NATO for them to stay so I can imagine the pressure is immense.

No, I am NOT missing the point, perhaps you missed my point!?!

The Dutch fulfilled their obligation (and more) and now are going to stop!

The US president only speaks for American people, so if he promised more troops, then that is his perogative, it has no bearing on any other country! (However, I don't recall him stating that in his election run, but, either way, a US president only speaks for the US.)

Europeans who supported Obama?
I had no idea that Europeans (or any other non-US citizens for that matter) were able to vote in US elections.

(Other than those with dual US/European nationality.)..... BUT if that were true then Bush would have never been able to steal either of the elections that he did.

I am afraid that this war is another one of those wars where there was no pre-war planning and, hence no exit strategy, and now those who started it are going to have to figure out how to get themselves out of it. (Echoes of Vietnam?.....hmmm)

Perhaps if the other NATO countries had refused to fight in Afghanistan or had threatend to pull out of Afghanistan if the Yanks/British went into IRAQ, then maybe the war in Afghanistan would well be over by now.

Marco · Post by **Marco** » Tue 23rd Feb 2010 04:47 pm

General election set for June 9

Tuesday 23 February 2010

The general election will take place on June 9, slightly later than most pundits had expected, the state information service said on Tuesday afternoon.

The Christian Democrats and ChristenUnie will continue to run the country as a caretaker cabinet and the portfolios of the six Labour cabinet ministers have been reassigned to other ministers.

Justice minister Ernst Hirsch Ballin will take responsibility for home affairs, family minister André Rouvoet will move to education and culture and defence minister Eimert Middelkoop takes over integration and urban affairs.

Junior finance minister Jan-Kees de Jager will oversee the full finance ministry portfolio while junior transport minister Tineke Huizinga is to head up the housing and environment ministries.

Caretaker

In Dutch constitutional terms, the cabinet is now officially a caretaker cabinet, overseeing the running of the country until the election. A minority cabinet, which would have taken longer to put together, has technically more powers.

Because of their caretaker role, ministers must simply mind the shop and controversial legislation will be put on hold.

Once the election has been held it will then probably take months to create a new government.

With a majority government requiring at least 76 of the 150 seats in parliament, forming a coalition can be a tricky business. The longest cabinet formation took 208 days, the shortest just 10.

But experts are predicting a long wait this time round because if the opinion polls are to believed, the next cabinet may involve four political parties.

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