AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Two Dutch parties who pulled the plug on their coalition with the divided party of murdered populist Pim Fortuyn said on Thursday they were ready to work together in a new government after the next election.

The Christian Democrats and VVD Liberals, disenchanted with Fortuyn's chaotically disintegrating party, said they were ready to form a two-way coalition after elections expected in early 2003. Polls show they could secure a comfortable parliamentary majority.

The coalition of Christian Democrats (CDA), VVD Liberals and the Pim Fortuyn List (LPF) crumbled on Wednesday after less than 100 days in office -- the shortest-lived Dutch government since World War II -- over a feud between two LPF ministers.

The mainstream VVD and CDA said they had lost confidence in the ability of the coalition to survive after Fortuyn's party failed to quell a mounting power struggle within its divided ranks.

The Netherlands, better known for stable consensual democracy than for revolving-door governments, now faces its second parliamentary election in just a few months. A caretaker government, in the meantime, will run the country.

"The two parties, CDA and VVD, formed a cabinet with a good program and they want to put that program to voters. Every party wants new elections and there will definitely be elections," CDA spokesman Marcel Meijer said.

While CDA and VVD would outline their own party programs to voters, they were ready to cooperate as coalition partners in a new two-party government, he said. New elections are expected on December 18 or January 15.

The VVD also signaled its willingness to embrace the CDA, the biggest party in parliament, after the election. "The VVD is ready to go further with CDA," a party spokesman said.

POLL TO POLL

Fortuyn's party -- which stormed to second place in the May 15 election by capturing 26 seats -- could end up with only four seats in a new election, according to the latest opinion poll. It is set to fight for its survival.

The latest opinion poll predicted that the CDA would add six seats to its present 43, with the VVD climbing to 31 seats from 24 now. The opposition Labour party (PvdA) would also stand to gain ground, with its tally growing to 27 seats from 23.

That would still give the CDA and VVD a comfortable majority in the 150-seat parliament and strengthen their hand in pushing through an agreed government program that includes budget cuts, a crime crackdown and social welfare reform.

The coalition formed in July contained six CDA ministers and four each from the LPF and VVD.

The resolve of CDA and VVD, who will effectively run the country in a caretaker capacity after two of the LPF's four ministers resigned, to work together will be put to the test within days.

The two will have to iron out their differences over the thorny issue of European Union enlargement ahead of a key summit in Brussels next week at which the Netherlands will be asked to back plans for the EU to accept 10 new member states in 2004.

CDA's outgoing Prime Minister Jan-Peter Balkenende wants the Netherlands to approve plans for all of the 10 mostly ex-communist candidate states to join the bloc in 2004. The VVD has said that not all candidates are ready to join.

But political experts expect them to hammer out a compromise which will not jeopardize European enlargement and further inflame domestic political tensions.

EU Enlargement Commissioner Guenter Verheugen appealed to the Dutch parliament on Thursday not to jeopardize enlargement. "This is the most well prepared enlargement in the history of the European Union," he told the Dutch parliament.