Cabinet Resigns Over Reform Bill

Prime Minister Wim Kok’s government resigned after Democrats 66, or D66, the junior coalition partner, quit because a constitutional reform bill failed by one vote to gain an upper house majority. The resignation at The Hague, following a five-hour crisis meeting of the Dutch Cabinet, means the Netherlands almost certainly faces its second election in just more than a year, making Kok’s second Labor-Liberal-D66 coalition one of the shortest-lived Dutch governments since World War II. Political analysts said the weak position of the outgoing Cabinet would make it difficult to make decisions on major international issues at a particularly sensitive time. Queen Beatrix will consult key advisors concerning the next step. D66, with 14 of the coalition’s 97 seats in the 150-member lower house, had demanded the Cabinet’s resignation after the bill--which would have let voters reverse parliamentary decisions in a referendum under certain conditions--fell at the final hurdle.