RIJSWIJK, 24/01/03 - The newspapers were unanimous yesterday on the consequences of the general election result. They all considered a coalition between the Christian democrats (CDA) and Labour (PvdA) would be the most obvious choice.

According to the Algemeen Dagblad, the ballot result shows quite clearly that PvdA and CDA should govern the country together. The biggest winner is Wouter Bos, the young PvdA leader, who succeeded in almost reversing the enormous loss suffered at the last election in May (from 45 to 23 seats), which hardly anyone had thought possible.

De Telegraaf, with by far the largest circulation, wrote that the result more or less compels the CDA to discuss the formation of a coalition with the PvdA first. But it doubts whether the PvdA is ripe to join the government, and whether a CDA-PvdA cabinet would be stable, in spite of the large majority the parties have between them. Only if the Pim Fortuyn List (LPF) forms a single entity quickly can it join the CDA and the conservatives (VVD) to create a realistic alternative for a center-left cabinet.

De Volkskrant spoke of a PvdA resurrection under Bos. He will need all his charm, modesty and flexibility to bring the formation talks with the CDA to a satisfactory conclusion. After the surprising gains, excluding Bos from the government would be a gross insult to the voters, the paper considered.