Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende and Deputy Prime Ministers Wouter Bos and André Rouvoet have been meeting to discuss the political situation in the Wake of the Davids Commission report on Dutch government support for the Iraq war.

The report said the cabinet failed to inform parliament fully about its support for the invasion, and the military action "had no sound mandate under international law". However, on Tuesday the Christian Democrat prime minister dismissed the key findings, drawing fierce criticism from the Mr Bos’ Labour Party.

Leader of the parliamentary Labour Party, Mariëtte Hamer, said that Mr Balkenende had not spoken on behalf of the Labour Party ministers, and demanded a new statement from the prime minister. At the time of the invasion of Iraq, Mr Balkenende was in his second term of office, heading a coalition with the conservative VVD and the centre-left D66 party. The Labour Party was in opposition and strongly critical of the government support for the US-led invasion. Ms Hamer said Mr Balkenende was responding too much in his role as the prime minister at the time rather than as the head of the present coalition.

Blame
At the start of today’s meeting Mr Bos said there was no question of a coalition crisis, adding that he was not out to talk about blame, but merely to seek clarification. When the three ministers emerged from the prime ministers office on Wednesday afternoon, Mr Bos said the atmosphere in the meeting had been good.

Deputy Prime Minister André Rouvoet, leader of the junior coalition party the Christian Union, said he was surprised people had gained the impression that the cabinet was deaf to the Davids Commission’s conclusions. He stressed that Mr Balkenende’s response had been made in consultation with the coalition partners, and played down the prime ministers criticism of the findings. He said he had not come to the meeting to engage in finger-pointing.

Neither the Christian Democrats nor the Christian Union see any need for a further statement from the prime minister. In response to the Labour Party attacks, the two parties point out that the Labour deputy prime minister had approved the text of Mr Balkenende’s speech.

MPs voted on Wednesday to debate the Iraq issue with Mr Balkenende in the Lower House later in the day.

Deputy Prime Minister André Rouvoet before Wednesday's meeting (ANP)