Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende, who submitted his cabinet's resignation to Dutch Queen Beatrix earlier Friday, said he hopes to remain in office with a minority government.

 

The prime minister, who belongs to the Christian Democrats (CDA), said this would enable the cabinet to complete preparations for the 2007 budget and the Dutch military mission in Afghanistan, Radio Netherlands reported.

 

The Queen is expected to consult all the leaders of the political parties in parliament to determine whether to give Balkenende a chance to form a minority government with its remaining coalition partner the Liberal Party (VVD), or call early elections.

 

The CDA and the VVD together holds 72 seats in the 150-seat parliament, four seats short of a majority.

 

D66, the party whose withdrawal from the government Thursday led to the cabinet's downfall, holds six seats.

 

If Balkenende fails to secure any support from opposition parties, parliamentary elections scheduled for next May could be held as early as September or October.

 

After three years in power, the center-right coalition collapsed Thursday after junior partner D66 quit in protest of Immigration Minister Rita Verdonk's handling of the citizenship of a Somali-born Dutch politician.

 

Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a fierce critic of conservative Islam, resigned as a VVD member of parliament in mid-May when Verdonk threatened to deprive her of her Dutch passport for lying about her name, age and refugee status when she applied for Dutch asylum and citizenship in the 1990's.

 

Under immense pressure from the parliament, Verdonk eventually allowed Hirsi Ali to keep her Dutch citizenship.

 

She did so after Hirsi Ali signed a statement, drafted by Verdonk's staff, in which she apologized for misleading the government and absolved Verdonk of any responsibility.

 

After a marathon debate in parliament Wednesday night, D66 on Thursday demanded the resignation of Verdonk, who was backed by both her own VVD and Balkenende's CDA.

 

When the demand was not met, three cabinet members of D66 resigned, which resulted in the announcement by Balkenende of resignation of all the other cabinet members.

 

(Xinhua News Agency July 1, 2006)