Social Democrat Dept: Polls had predicted that the economically conservative VVD party of Mark Rutte, a committed budget slasher, would win the plurality of votes and therefore the prime ministership. However, former Amsterdam mayor Job Cohen, a social democrat renowned for his tolerant approach to the integration of immigrants, posted a strong recovery for Labour. Final results will be known on Thursday, according to Globe And Mail. “We are the big winners,” Mr. Wilders said. “This is a glorious day for the Netherlands. … half a million people chose our agenda for hope and optimism. More safety, less immigration, less Islam is what the Netherlands wants.” With 96.5 per cent of votes counted, the pro-business VVD Freedom and Democracy Party led the Labour Party by 31 seats to 30 in the 150-seat parliament, a result that spelled weeks and possibly months of haggling to fashion a ruling coalition among parties deeply split on immigration and how to curb government spending. Most dramatically, the anti-Islam firebrand Geert Wilders rose from obscurity to third place with 24 seats, bringing his far-right party into the mainstream of Western European politics – under Dutch constitutional rules, the other parties must involve him in coalition talks, and his result was strong enough that he could end up with a cabinet position in a conservative coalition government. As
reported in the news.
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