The question at stake was whether a continued presence of Dutch troops in Afghanistan after the summer would be an option. In 2008, the government had decided that all Dutch troops would be withdrawn by the end of 2010. The fall of the cabinet means that the Netherlands will probably have general elections in May or June of this year. Polls indicate that D66 might be one of the big winners of these elections. Alexander Pechtold, leader of ELDR member party D66, concludes that the fall of the government Balkenende IV was unavoidable. Pechtold: “Mutual trust between members of the government had disappeared weeks ago. In this time of economic crisis the Netherlands no longer has to deal with a continuous struggle for political leadership in its government.” All important issues and budget cuts were being postponed and delayed by Prime Minister Balkenende and Minister of Finance and PvdA leader Bos. “The Netherlands has lost three years by a lack of ambition of this government”. Social-Liberal D66 is in favour of social and economic reforms as soon as possible. Pechtold: “Education, the labour and housing market, climate and energy and our democracy ask for a clear approach. This approach is truly D66, we want to break the standstill and we are ready for elections”