The Dutch public reacted with a mixture of incredulity and confusion at the collapse of its government yesterday. It had been hailed as a harmonious European model proficient at balancing social protection and growth.
With stark choices such as agreement on supplying ground troops for the Kosovo war about to be reached by parliament here the unprecedented sudden collapse was creating unease on a foreign front too.
The Labour Prime Minister, Mr Wim Kok, announced the resignation of his cabinet on television after breaking the news to Queen Beatrix just after 5 p.m.
There had been rumblings of disquiet about a imminent crisis in the wake of an expected disastrous Senate vote over constitutional reform. However nobody believed it would bring down the government.
Coalition government partners, the centre left liberals D66 who represent a small minority in the cabinet but are nevertheless regarded as important because they balance the policies of the left-wing labour PVDA and rightwing VVD liberal partners, withdrew their support of the present 10 month old government after a bill to introduce the referendum principle collapsed in the Senate.
The D66 party had insisted that a law allowing referenda on important questions be a condition of their participation in the former successful four-year long "Purple Coalition" led by Mr Kok.
Following the defeat of the government bill by one vote - the one opponent was a member of the ruling government party, a former right-wing Liberal deputy prime minister, Mr Hans Wiegel - D66 announced that their confidence in the government was over. It had blatantly reneged on its election promises, said D66. They were supported by all members of their two coalition partners.
The political crisis may sound the final political death knell for Mr Kok (60), one of the Netherlands' most popular and experienced politicians. While his own Labour party together with the right-wing VVD liberals still hold a majority without the participation of the D66 their participation was regarded as crucial.
The main opposition leader, the Christian Democrat Mr Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, said: "Now it's time for the Dutch electorate to decide in elections; this coalition cocktail has been a disaster from the outset; Kok was leading from the sidelines, if it wasn't this crisis another would have blown up."