Dutch political parties are facing months of bargaining to build a coalition after yesterday's election results showed votes split between the two largest parties, the Christian Democrats and Labour.
The party of murdered far-right populist Mr Pim Fortuyn has been relegated to the fringes of Dutch politics after a row between two of its ministers led to the collapse of the Christian Democrat-led coalition after just eight months in power.
The Christian Democrats edged out a resurgent Labour by a 44-42 margin in the 150-seat parliament, meaning Mr Jan Peter Balkenende will almost certainly serve a second term as prime minister.
Although Labour were hoping to make even greater gains, the result means Mr Balkenende will not have enough support from other conservative parties and will need to form a coalition with the centre-left, Labour Party.
Mr Balkenende is refusing to consider another alliance with that late Mr Fortuyn's party, blaming its internal power struggles for the collapse of his first government after just 87 days in office.
"If you talk about finance, welfare, education and health care, we have great differences [with Labour]," Mr Balkenende said. He says reaching an agreement with Labour can not be done quickly - if it can be done at all.
Although the two parties have governed together before, most recently in the late 1980s, there is no guarantee they could come to terms again.
PA