The Dutch Christian Democrat Appeal party (CDA) has closed ranks after a deep crisis over coalition talks with Geert Wilders' anti-Islam Freedom Party.

Deputy coalition negotiator, mild-mannered rational protestant Ab Klink, has stepped back and his place at the negotiating table alongside party leader Maxime Verhagen will be taken by another MP. The coalition talks will resume on Thursday.

Freedom of religion
After three weeks of tough coalition negotiations, Mr Klink saw insurmountable obstacles to a government coalition supported by Geert Wilders' party. In a letter leaked to public broadcaster NOS, the respected Christian Democrat wrote to his fellow MPs that he wanted the coalition talks to stop, because of Mr Wilders' anti-Islamic views, which he considered divisive and at odds with the fundamental freedom of religion.

Mr Klink, who is the Health Minister in the outgoing government, also foresaw huge problems in the planned coalition, where Christian Democrats and free-market liberal VVD would together form a minority government, while the Freedom Party would only be committed to giving parliamentary support without having any ministers in the government. This would give Mr Wilders' party a stranglehold over the new government without constraining his views on Islam, Islamic immigrants and other social issues. The three-party combination would have had a fragile one-seat majority in the 150-member Lower House.

The general elections of 9 June failed to produce a clear majority of any coherent group of parties. Several combinations of parties since tried to form viable coalitions, but all attempts failed. The centre-right grouping of CDA, VVD and Freedom Party is in its fourth week of talks.

© Radio Netherlands Worldwide