The Dutch caretaker cabinet faced renewed crisis Wednesday after the parliament passed a no-confidence motion against the immigration minister after bitter disputes over the deportation of asylum seekers.

The motion, initiated by left-wing opposition parties, was approved Tuesday night after the Minister of Immigration and Integration Rita Verdonk persistently refused to extend a temporary suspension on the deportations of long-term asylum seekers, the local media said.
 
The Dutch parliament had been pressing the government to accept a general amnesty for about 26,000 asylum seekers whose requests for asylum had been rejected before April 2001 under old immigration rules and were consequently living illegally in the Netherlands.

However, Verdonk refused to do so and was supported by the cabinet. Out of courtesy towards parliament she agreed to temporarily suspend the deportations.

It was still unclear whether Verdonk will step down. If that happens, all ministers from her Liberal Party (VVD) are expected to resign with party leader Mark Rutte threatening to take a common position. This may even force Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende to tender his government's resignation to Queen Beatrix, for the fourth time in less than five years.
 
This is not the first row over Verdonk's hard-line policy, since her handling of the citizenship of anti-Islam campaigner Ayaan Hirsi Ali forced Balkenende's coalition to resign in June, leading to last month's general elections.

Just three weeks after the elections, the caretaker cabinet formed by VVD and Balkenende's Christian Democrats (CDA), is again on the verge of collapse.

This time, a resignation would create a disturbing precedent in Dutch politics since the cabinet already has caretaker status. It is unprecedented for a caretaker minister to be forced to resign.

Balkenende had warned the move could lead to a "constitutional stalemate." His cabinet is holding an emergency meeting Wednesday to discuss the crisis.

Political commentators said the crisis could strongly affect he ongoing government formation process. At present, Balkenende's CDA, which remains the biggest party in parliament after the general elections held on Nov. 22, and the main opposition party Labor Party (PvdA) are considered most likely to serve in the new cabinet.

(Xinhua News Agency December 14, 2006)