Dutch coalition talks promise to be tough and lengthy

Victory celebrations gave way to coalition wrangling yesterday, a day after Dutch voters flocked to the center and abandoned the radical party of the murdered populist Pim Fortuyn.

Preliminary contacts began immediately after the returns were in from Wednesday's vote, with Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende's victorious centre-right Christian Democrats speaking sourly about its centre-left rival, the Labour Party – the runne-up and most obvious partner.

Coalition bargaining was expected to be long and tortuous, probably lasting months.

The Christian Democrats edged out a resurgent Labour Party by 44-42 seats in the 150-member parliament, cementing Balkenende's claim to a second term. Fortuyn's party held onto only 8 of the 26 seats it won in the previous election last May.

Queen Beatrix, who oversees the process of forming a government, met her political advisers Thursday ahead of interviewing party leaders Friday.

Balkenende has said he wants to explore combinations that would permit him to remain with his main ally, the pro-business Liberal party, and a smaller third party, rather than join forces with Labour.

"We have big differences that you can't just walk away from," Balkenende said about Labour. He mentioned health care, education and the economy.

But Dutch editorial writers said the surge by Labour, which won 19 seats, cannot be ignored.

"The vote's result points unambiguously toward a cabinet of Christian Democrats and Labour," wrote the Amsterdam-based De Volkskrant. "With such a surprising win, Labour can't be held outside the government. That would be a great insult to the voter."

Although the two parties have governed together before, as recently as 1994, there was no guarantee they could come to terms again. After the 1977 election, they negotiated for six months before abandoning the attempt.

The election outcome was seen as a return to political calm after a year of upheaval which saw two governments resign, two parliamentary elections, and the phenomenal rise and fall of the anti-immigration party Pim Fortuyn's List. Fortuyn himself was shot dead the week before the 2002 election.

In Germany, Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder congratulated the Labour Party and its leader Wouter Bos, for its recovery from last year's debacle, when it lost half its support.

"We are glad that the Dutch voters have recognized your party will carry through reforms and once again made the Labour Party a strong political force in parliament," Schroeder wrote Bos.

Balkenende's first Cabinet resigned last October after 87 days in office – the shortest lived Dutch government since World War II – dogged by infighting in Fortuyn's upstart party and feuding between two of its ministers.

While Fortuyn's party lost the vast majority of its seats as the anti-immigration, crime-busting platform of the assassinated politician was absorbed by the mainstream parties.