Dutch coalition government falls

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands, June 30 (UPI) -- The Netherlands' coalition government has fallen over the handling of the citizenship of Somali-born Dutch politician Ayaan Hirsi Ali.

Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende, who had led the Christian Democrat party in the government, was to submit his resignation to Queen Beatrix. Earlier on Thursday, a junior minister from D66, the smallest part in the coalition, resigned over the citizenship issue, causing the government to collapse.

The parliamentary party of D66 had supported an opposition motion of no confidence over Immigration Minister Rita Verdonk's refusal to take blame for the Hirsi Ali naturalization affair, reports Expatica.

The D66 then decided to withdraw support to the government after Balkenende's announcement that the government would continue to work with Verdonk.

The issue over Hirsi Ali, a critic of conservative Islam, became a controversy after the government threatened to revoke her Dutch citizenship because she had allegedly given false information on her arrival in the Netherlands in 1992.

The Liberals and the Christian Democrats may seek to form a minority government.