The Netherlands' prime minister is meeting with Queen Beatrix to discuss options for forming a temporary government after his Cabinet collapsed early Saturday over a dispute about whether to pull Dutch troops from Afghanistan. Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende is expected to propose to the queen on Monday that his Christian Democrats lead a caretaker government until new national elections can be held. The queen will likely call for elections in May, but a date has not been set, the Associated Press reported. Balkenende's government fell after the left-leaning Labor party refused to allow 1,600 Dutch troops to stay in the Afghan province of Uruzgan. The troops will now definitely return home as a caretaker government would not have the power to extend their mission.
