This marriage of convenience was on its last legs, now it has finally been put out of its misery, writes Ron Meerhof in the Volkskrant.

All coalition parties lose in the ‘slow motion fall of Balkenende IV’, as Groen Links leader Femke Halsema described it.
Hints that this marriage of convenience was in trouble came a week and a half ago when Nato’s request for a prolonged Dutch military presence in Uruzgan was made public. None of the parties were trying to force a break up but both the Labour party and the Christian Democrats were to blame when it came.
This time it’s the end
When the cabinet decided in 2007, along with a very reluctant Labour party, to continue the mission in Afghanistan, the Christian Democrats were adamant that this would be the end of it. Nato also promised the Dutch troops would be relieved although most voters had their doubts even then.
In September 2009, Defense minister Maxime Verhagen began to push for another extension, a move Labour characterized as defrauding the voters. Verhagen piled on the pressure but the Labour party, publicly at least, didn’t budge. A deal is a deal, it said, we are leaving Afghanistan.
Last week, however, when the Nato request to stay on in Afghanistan was made public, it became clear that Labour cabinet members had been negotiating about a continuation of the mission against the will of their party and a large number of Labour party members.

Bos damaged
The revelation turned out to be very damaging for the deputy prime minister. It was mainly his own doing: not many people believed his surprise at the leaked Nato letter was genuine. Ten days before the local council elections Bos faced the choice of being characterized as an eternal weathervane or confronting the Christian Democrats, and his own cabinet, head on. He chose the latter.
The consequences have been extremely serious. Bos’ decision was applauded in his own circle at first. But the events of the last few days have done a great deal of damage to his reputation and that of prime minister Jan Peter Balkenende. Bos collided publicly with Balkenende in parliament and was even branded a liar.
The Christian Democrats have expressed doubts about Maxime Verhagen’s tough handling of the case. Now that the government has collapsed, the Uruzgan mission seems to be off the agenda.
Christian Democrat voters don’t seem to be interested overmuch in the discussion anyway. It’s their jobs, mortgage tax relief and taxes they are worried about and any cabinet crisis had better be over one of these. In the middle of a huge economic crisis it’s what politics should be about, they think.
There will be twenty or more such subjects on the table when the results of the ‘amendments’ will be presented in the spring. The timing meant that CDA politicians were eager to book an early spring get-away this year. They were counting on a short holiday in April, cuts in June followed by the collapse of the cabinet and a summer spent electioneering. They can count again.
Ron Meerhof is a journalist with the Volkskrant .This is an unofficial translation.