Bijleveld regrets the fall of Dutch cabinet

February 22, 2010 6:26 AM

THE HAGUE--Dutch State Secretary of Kingdom Relations, Ank Bijleveld-Schouten, said on Sunday that she regretted the fall of the Balkenende IV cabinet.

The State Secretary said, via her spokesman Tijs Manten, the fall of the cabinet was "painful" for the Antilles dossier, because it obviously means a delay in the process of constitutional reform. She said that she "very much regretted" the fall of the cabinet, also, because she was very committed to realising new relations in the Kingdom. "Everything was ready to handle the law proposals in Parliament and that has now come to a standstill. That is too bad," said spokesman Manten.

Bijleveld-Schouten could not give any comment on the continuation of the trajectory, because it was unclear what would happen with the process. "There is too much insecurity. What happens next depends on a lot of factors," stated Manten.

Today, Monday, Queen Beatrix will hold consultations, starting with outgoing Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende, followed by the Council of State Vice President Herman Tjeenk Willink, the Second Chamber Chairwoman Gerdi Verbeet, the First Chamber Chairman René van der Linden, and outgoing Vice Prime Ministers Wouter Bos and André Rouvoet.

Balkenende went to the Queen on Saturday to report Saturday's resignation of the ministers and state secretaries of the Labour Party PvdA. The portfolios and the positions of the other members of the cabinet have been put for disposal.

The remaining cabinet, consisting of the Christian Democratic Party CDA and Christian Union (CU), will have a lame-duck status and will stay on to handle non-controversial affairs, until early elections take place which should be in late May or early June. The constitutional reform process is considered a controversial dossier and, as such, the trajectory will be deferred until the appointment of a new government.

22 February 2010