THE HAGUE, 29/01/03 - Christian democratic (CDA) leader Jan Peter Balkenende and his Labour (PvdA) counterpart Wouter Bos are today resuming their orientation talks intended to lead to actual coalition negotiations. Yesterday, the two sat together for the first time as part of the feeling-each-other-out phase desired by Balkenende.

After the meeting, Balkenende spoke of "A good atmosphere" and "respect for each other's points of view. " According to the CDA leader, they did not go into the policy differences between the parties. But he did state that agreement had been reached concerning which issues should have priority in the talks, one of which being the Iraq question.

"We must realize that developments in Iraq will be playing a role before the cabinet formation is completed. We must work out this point," said Bos. He stressed that the center-right caretaker government will take the decisions, but expected it will take the PvdA's position into account. Bos' party considers a second UN Security Council resolution must materialize before any force could be used, while the CDA does not find this an absolute necessity.

The meeting was led by 'informateur' Piet Hein Donner, who has been commissioned by the Queen to explore whether a majority coalition can be formed "which can count on fruitful cooperation with the Lower House. " Donner (CDA) is looking at three possibilities: A CDA-PvdA government, continuation of the present coalition of CDA, the conservatives (VVD) and Pim Fortuyn List (LPF), and a government of PvdA, VVD and the center-left D66. The last option has been greeted with surprise, especially by the VVD.

The talks led by Donner are only intended to indicate whether there is preparedness between parties to work together and what the bottlenecks in terms of programs are. Detailed partnership will only be discussed after the first round. Bos yesterday urged the appointment of a second 'informateur' alongside Donner when the second round begins. This would be a PvdA member.