THE HAGUE, 06/07/06 - Labour (PvdA) leader Wouter Bos considers that the Dutch electorate must again give their verdict via referendum if an adapted European Constitution emerges. The Netherlands rejected the Constitution last year.

"If something emerges that looks only slightly like what was called the Constitutional Treaty last year, then this would have to run via a referendum once again," says Bos in this week's Elsevier magazine. He warns the PvdA's sister social democratic parties in Europe that they "must not think that things will be arranged after all with the Constitution," if the PvdA comes into the government after the November general elections.

The PvdA supported the European Constitution last year, but a large majority of the Dutch electorate voted against it in the 1 June 2005 referendum. In a number of EU countries, voices are calling for breathing new life into the Constitution, which the Netherlands has declared 'dead'. The Christian democrats (CDA) and conservatives (VVD) do not want to hold a referendum on any new treaty.

The PvdA has led the polls for years, though its lead is narrowing. Bos says in Elsevier that he wants to form "as stable a cabinet as possible" after the early elections in November. He states no preference for a coalition partner.

Bos does say the VVD leadership of Mark Rutte strikes him as "vulnerable," because the VVD supporters consist of a centre-left and a right wing. This causes "varying expectations on what the VVD ought to do," according to Bos.

The CDA has no leadership problem, concludes Bos. "But to know exactly with whom we are dealing with the CDA, we will still have to await the election programme of this party."