The Christian Democrats have as good as thrown their towel in the ring and are ready to accept defeat in the June 9 general election, the Telegraaf reports on Wednesday, quoting party sources.

The paper says senior party officials have begun discussing what should happen next, now a heavy loss in the poll would ‘seem to be unavoidable’. Two recent opinion polls put the CDA 15 seats behind the Liberals, a gap which is too great to close in one week.
The sources say a small group is preparing to start the process to find a replacement for Jan Peter Balkenende, who is likely to quit as party leader. The polls give the CDA between 25 and 21 seats in parliament after June 9. The party currently has 41.
Four governments
Balkenende, who has headed up four governments in eight years, has been under fire since the local elections in March, when the CDA performed badly.
His campaign tactics in the national election have also been attacked from within the party. A number of senior politicians were unaware Balkenende had made keeping mortgage tax relief untouched an essential condition for joining a new coalition.
However, a spokesman for Balkenende denied the party had given up. ‘We do not recognise ourselves in these reports,’ the spokesman said. ‘We will continue to tell our own story.’