THE HAGUE, 31/01/01 - Centre-left (D66) MP Van Walsem considers that Crown Prince Willem-Alexander should abdicate his right to the throne if he wishes to go ahead and marry Maxima. Van Walsem believes that the Lower House should take a stand on what is generally called the Zorreguieta question.

The MP's view does not match that of his own parliamentary leader Thom de Graaf, who said last weekend that Maxima's controversial father should be able to attend the wedding. The government cannot prevent Jorge Zorreguieta's presence at his daughter's wedding, De Graaf maintained.

Van Walsem does not object to Willem-Alexander following his heart, but does not think he should then become King. "There is no question of the required irreproachable conduct in the case of Maxima's father. " If Maxima is willing to distance herself from her father's past, Van Walsem will reconsider his position.

Van Walsem is in a minority within the parliamentary party. "But it is time that the party and the Lower House took up a standpoint. My remarks and those of the parliamentary leader may have caused things to gain momentum. "

In the late seventies and early eighties, Zorreguieta was State Secretary and later Minister of Agriculture in the Argentine military regime led by General Videla.