THE HAGUE, 02/02/07 - The leaders of the Christian democrats (CDA), Labour (PvdA) and small Christian party ChristenUnie expect to achieve a draft coalition accord by Monday or Tuesday. They need slightly more time to work out the details op paper.

The three parties had expected to reach an agreement today, but this will likely be the beginning of next week. The MPs of the parties are to discuss the draft accord on Monday or Tuesday. Within several days, they should be able to start dividing up the ministerial and state secretary posts and looking for candidates to fill these.

CDA leader Jan Peter Balkenende will again be premier. PvdA leader Wouetr Bos is virtually certain to be Finance Minister and vice-premier. Amsterdam Alderman Ahmed Aboutaleb will also joint the cabinet. At Social Affairs or Education, he will be the first Muslim minister ever.

CDA's Maxime Verhagen is considered the leading candidate for Foreign Affairs. ChristenUnie's Eimert Middelkoop is named as a candidate for Defence. ChristenUnie leader Andre Rouvoet may or may not join the cabinet and is tipped for the new Youth Affairs portfolio if he does.

CDA, PvdA and ChristenUnie wanted a cabinet with fewer than the current 16 ministers but this attempt has failed, partly because Rouvoet has demanded two ministers rather than just one. CDA is expected to have eight ministers and PvdA six, meaning PvdA and ChistenUnie combined are as strong as CDA in the cabinet.