Dutch major parties struck coalition deal

According to details of the deal leaked to Dutch media, the new cabinet will be center-left one made up of Christian Democrat CDA, the Labor Party PvdA and Christian Union.

CDA, led by current Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende, is the largest party in the parliament after the general election last November. It is followed by PvdA. But neither party won majority to form a new government on its own. Christian Union is rather a small party which has just six seats in the parliament's 150-seat lower house.

Balkenende was expected to remain as Prime Minister, with Labor leader Wouter Bos possibly becoming finance minister and deputy prime minister.

Tackling inner city problem areas and improving the environment will be key themes for the next Dutch cabinet, Radio Netherlands said.

It was reported that the agreement calls for an extra spending of 800 million euros (about 1.4 billion U.S. dollars) for the environment, especially on clean energy. A new minister with the job of improving troublesome inner city areas will be created.

Mortgage tax breaks enjoyed by homeowners, an explosive issue in Dutch politics, will remain in place and unaltered. Public spending will increase. There will be more money for healthcare, education and inner city areas.

In face of aging population, the new cabinet will give tax breaks to those who work beyond 65 while making those early retirees pay.

Another part of the coalition plan is to grant an amnesty to unsuccessful asylum seekers who entered the country before 2001. It has been a very controversial issue during the election. The former cabinet took a tough stance against amnesty.

The three parties started their coalition talks at the beginning of January. It is remarkably quick for the negotiation to be wrapped up in one month only. In the past, the longest negotiations to form a government have taken more than six months.

The agreement was expected to be made public on Tuesday morning following discussions within the parties.