Dutch cabinet crisis solved but Immigration minister Verdonk stays

The Netherlands caretaker Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende has resolved the cabinet crisis by moving Immigration Minister Rita Verdonk over to the justice ministry and by proposing a freeze on the expulsion of failed asylum-seekers who have children. The lower house of parliament will discuss the prime minister’s proposal on Thursday.

The crisis came about after the Dutch parliament voted on Tuesday to censure the Immigration Minister for her refusal to heed a parliamentary vote to halt the expulsion of failed asylum-seekers. Normally, a vote of censure results in the resignation of a minister.

However, the cabinet is already outgoing following the November elections and if the rest of the conservative VVD ministers were to follow through on their threat to resign from the cabinet if Ms Verdonk were forced to resign then it could result in a constitutional stalemate.

Source: Radio Netherlands, 14 December 2006

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