THE HAGUE, 16/01/03 - One week before next Wednesday's general elections, the Christian democrats (CDA) and Labour (PvdA) are nearing its each other in the polls. The NIPO bureau said yesterday the CDA is still the biggest party, while pollster Maurice de Hond claimed PvdA strengthened its number one position.

NIPO reported if elections were held yesterday the CDA would win 42 seats in the 150-member Lower House and the PvdA, 40 seats. In last week's NIPO poll, CDA could still expect 46 seats and the PvdA, 35. They presently have 43 and 23 MPS respectively.

De Hond yesterday put CDA at 38 seats and PvdA at 42 seats, up one from his poll on Tuesday. De Hond claims his poll shows more reliable results than other surveys because he asks voters' opinion daily and his competitors publish the average of one week's polling.

NIPO yesterday put the conservatives (VVD) at 28 seats, up 4 from its present 24, while De Hond gave them 32. The pollers respectively expect the Socialist Party to win 16 and 13 seats (it now has 9 MPs), the Pim Fortuyn List (LPF) 6 and 8 seats (now 26), the leftwing Greens (GroenLinks) 6 and 7 (now 10) and the center-left D66 6 and 4 seats (now 7).

A CDA-PvdA alliance is the only two party coalition possible according to both polls. As well, the pressure on PvdA leader Wouter Bos to name a candidate for premier is increasing. But Bos repeated yesterday he would only produce a name if all polls show his party becoming the biggest next Wednesday. Last Tuesday evening he again stressed that he was not available for the job himself and wanted to remain the PvdA's parliamentary leader.