Queen announces Dutch elections to be held June 9, nearly 1 year early

Dutch will go to polls June 9, 1 year early

AMSTERDAM — The Dutch government on Tuesday set June 9 as the date for general elections, nearly one year ahead of schedule, following the collapse of the center-right government in a dispute over the army’s engagement in Afghanistan.

Queen Beatrix, the ceremonial head of state, accepted the resignation of 12 cabinet officers from the Labor Party who quit the coalition on Saturday when the left-leaning party refused to comply with a NATO request to keep Dutch troops in the southern Afghan province of Uruzgan.

Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende will remain in office as head of a minority government until the elections, and can deal with issues that cannot be delayed, the queen’s office said in a statement.

The announcement from the royal palace followed two days of consultations by the queen, who broke off a skiing holiday in Austria to meet the leaders of all political parties and her political advisers.

Although the queen’s function is largely ceremonial, she does have some leeway in deciding an election date and the powers of the interim government.

“A lot has happened in the last days after the cabinet fell,” Balkenende told a news conference. “The parties have made it clear they want elections as soon as possible.”

He named Jan Kees de Jager as the new finance minister to replace Wouter Bos, the Labor Party leader who resigned.

The government’s fall and the withdrawal of Dutch troops this year was a blow to NATO, coming as the United States is pouring 30,000 more troops into Afghanistan and calling on its allies to step up their own contributions.

Without a consensus to extend the Dutch mission, the forces will begin their evacuation in August and pull the last of its 1,600 troops from the province by December.

Richard Holbrooke, the U.S. special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan, called the Dutch decision a disappointment.

“They’ve done a wonderful job in Uruzgan,” Holbrooke told reporters in Berlin, where he was consulting with government officials.

“To be honest, I heard the news with great sadness,” he said.

“It is disappointing to see such a decision unfold,” Holbrooke said. He added, however, that he hoped it could be adjusted.

Balkenende had favored keeping a reduced force in Uruzgan to prepare Afghan army and police forces to take over security operations while another NATO country took over its combat operations.

Labor argued that a further extension would violate the 2007 coalition agreement among the three governing parties and went against the will of the Dutch electorate.

The mission in Afghanistan was deeply unpopular from the start. The troops were sent in 2006 with responsibility for security and reconstruction in Uruzgan, where the Taliban was particularly active.

Despite opinion polls, Balkenende’s pro-U.S. government responded positively to then-President George W. Bush’s appeal to join the NATO effort.

In Washington, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said in a speech to NATO officers Tuesday that Europeans’ aversion to fighting wars has become “an impediment to achieving real security and lasting peace” in this century and threatened to be a temptation for aggression.

Associated Press Writer Juergen Baetz contributed to this report from Berlin.