The Dutch government led by Jan Peter Balkenende resigned Thursday after losing the support of its junior coalition partner in a row triggered by controversial Immigration Minister Rita Verdonk, in a move that may result in early elections for the country.

The reformist D66, the junior coalition party with just three of a total of 25 ministers and junior ministers in government, effectively pulled the plug on Balkenende's government when it withdrew its support in the debate over Verdonk's handling of the controversy surrounding the citizenship of Somali-born Islam critic and former lawmaker Ayaan Hirsi Ali.

Verdonk, nicknamed "Iron Rita" for her tough stance on immigration, announced in May that Hirsi Ali, who admitted publicly that she lied in 1992 about her name and birth date on her asylum application, could not keep her Dutch citizenship.

Hirsi Ali, 36, gained international attention in 2004 after Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh was murdered by a Muslim extremist. Van Gogh had produced a controversial film written by Hirsi Ali about the treatment of women in Islam.

Concessions

After enormous political pressure from parliament, Verdonk softened her hardline position on Hirsi Ali.

On Tuesday she announced that Hirsi Ali, who has since stepped down as a member of parliament and is moving to the US to work for a think tank, could keep her Dutch passport.

Verdonk used complicated legal reasoning to justify her turnaround, concluding that Hirsi Ali actually lied about lying about her name because she could legally use the name Ali under Somali law.

The minister also produced a declaration signed by Hirsi Ali in which she said that she was actually to blame for the situation and wrote she did not reproach the minister anything.

However, Hirsi Ali later told Dutch media that she signed the document under pressure because she wanted the affair to be over and needed a valid Dutch passport to complete her move to Washington, where she has a job at a conservative policy institute.

The mea culpa letter was the straw that broke the camel's back for the D66 party, which had already had several clashes with Verdonk.

The D66 Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Economic Affairs Laurens Jan Brinkhorst told the Dutch parliament that his party's ministers "could no longer bear responsibility for the policies of the immigration minister."

Fallout

The resignation of the government is likely to lead to new elections in October rather than the planned date next May -- and renewed debate on the Netherlands' position on the future of the EU after the public's surprise rejection of the European Constitution in a referendum last year.

"The voters have to express themselves, preferably already in autumn," said main opposition Labour party leader Wouter Boss.

However, there is also a slim chance the coalition parties will try to cobble together a minority government supported by various small opposition parties.