Dutch PM slammed in secret report

THE HAGUE, Netherlands, July 12 (UPI) -- Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende has been directly blamed for the rejection of the EU treaty last month, an internal government survey reveals.

Following a court ruling, the center-right administration published its own study into why Dutch voters said "no" to the proposed European Union constitution, which it had struggled to keep out of the spotlight for months.

According to Dutch newspaper De Volkskrant, the report portrays the government's campaign for a "yes" vote as uninspired and lacking credibility. Balkenende himself is regarded as unconvincing, vague and without substance, and the majority of the Dutch mistrust their government, the survey says.

The responses to the survey also show that the large majority of the "no" votes were due to growing dissatisfaction with Balkenende's second-term government, which came to power in May 2003.

Latest polls show that the three-party coalition government only enjoys sufficient popular support to win one third of the seats in the lower house of parliament.