Prime minister Mark Rutte looks set to be the winner of the Dutch election, but without coalition partners. Wilders told RTL that even though he did not beat Rutte, he hoped that his party would be firm opposition to Rutte's VVD.
Published: March 16, 2017, 7:22 am
'Hate speech' trial against Geert Wilders to go ahead
A gathering of patriots – headlines from Koblenz
Dutch PM calls security leaks by Wilders' protection unit 'serious'
Geert Wilders is in danger as more info on security breach surfaces
European Parliament to crack down of free speech during debatesWith just over a tenth of the votes counted, Rutte’s VVD Party had been projected to win, ahead of Wilders who was in third place at 20 seats, according to data provided by the ANP Dutch news agency. Wilders took his home town Venlo as well as the symbolic Maastricht.
The final official numbers are not published until 21 March.
Despite being the winner, Rutte’s VVD is expected to lose 10 seats, a huge loss from 41 to 31 seats, exit polls have suggested. His junior partner in the outgoing coalition, Labour, suffered its worst ever result. The biggest losers of the night are expected to drop from 38 to 9 seats.
This leaves Rutte with a headache because he will have to find suitable coalition partners as he has ruled out working with Wilders.
At 81 percent, turnout was the highest in 30 years on Wilders’ promise to “de-Islamicise” the Netherlands. In Nijmegen, polling stations ran out of ballot papers and had to extend opening times to give people enough time to vote.
The PVV, Wilders’ party showed a considerable improvement from the 15 seats won in the 2012 election. Wilders tweeted: “We won seats! The first victory is in! And Rutte has not seen the last of me yet!!”
Rutte, the incumbent prime minister, was bolstered by the recent Dutch row with Turkey after his government forecefully deported a Turkish minister. A last-minute boost from the diplomatic fall-out came as Rutte took a tough stance on a majority Muslim country during an election campaign in which immigration and integration had been key issues.
Denk, a party supported by mainly Turkish Muslims, is set to win a seat or two as well, to become the first ever ethnic party in parliament.
Wilders said he was disappointed with the results, but looked to the positives of the election: “I would rather have been the largest party. (But) we gained seats. That’s a result to be proud of.”
When asked about Rutte’s remarks regarding “the wrong kind of populism”, the Freedom party leader said: “I don’t know what he [Rutte] means. He is implying there are good and bad populists.I don’t see myself as a populist but he is suggesting I am a bad populist and some kind of Nazi.”
Eurocrats were gloating about outcome, as the result is a huge relief to other EU governments facing a wave of nationalism. German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s chief of staff, Peter Altmaier, tweeted: “The Netherlands, oh the Netherlands you are a champion!….. Congratulations on this great result.”
France’s Socialist Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault tweeted: “Congratulations to the Dutch for stemming the rise of the far-right.”
Paolo Gentiloni, Italian prime minister, tweeted: “No Nexit. The anti-EU right has lost the Dutch elections. Now a common commitment to change and relaunch the Union.”
Guy Verhofstadt, the European parliament’s chief Brexit negotiatior, tweeted: “1st exit polls great! @VVD by far the biggest. @D66 up by a lot. Pro European parties on the rise. NL remains liberal & pro-European stronghold!”
Martin Schulz, the German Social Democrat leader, tweeted: “Geert Wilders could not win the election [in the Netherlands]. I am relieved.”
All rights reserved. You have permission to quote freely from the articles provided that the source (www.freewestmedia.com) is given. Photos may not be used without our consent.
Help us to produce more articles like this. FreeWestMedia is depending on donations from our readers to keep going. With your help, we expose the mainstream fake news agenda.
Keep your language polite. Readers from many different countries visit and contribute to Free West Media and we must therefore obey the rules in, for example, Germany. Illegal content will be deleted.
If you have been approved to post comments without preview from FWM, you are responsible for violations of any law. This means that FWM may be forced to cooperate with authorities in a possible crime investigation.
If your comments are subject to preview by FWM, please be patient. We continually review comments but depending on the time of day it can take up to several hours before your comment is reviewed.
We reserve the right to delete comments that are offensive, contain slander or foul language, or are irrelevant to the discussion.
MoscowPresident Vladimir Putin donned a yellow hazmat suit to explain to the public the emergency measures taken by the Russian government.
RomeAfter a few days of decline, the number of new cases in Italy have increased again. Wednesday's rise in the number of dead were 683, while on Tuesday the rise was 743. The number of confirmed cases in the US has however surpassed China and Italy to become the largest outbreak in the world.
MoscowEurope currently appears to be drowning in chaos and dysfunction when it comes to the fight against the Coronavirus. But how is Russia handling the challenge right now?
RomeIt will no longer be possible to disinfect hospitals, ambulances, public transport and schools. The League has urged the EU to step in. "The government and Europe must intervene as soon as possible."
ParisWhile drastic containment measures came into effect on March 17 at noon in France, carelessness and incivility persist in the immigrant districts of Paris. The police dispatched on the spot are exasperated with the inhabitants.
A virologist twice nominated for the Nobel Prize explains the British strategy of "herd immunity" claiming it may have a logical explanation, but is still too risky.
RomeIt seems that there are no more doubts since the data are clear: The mortality from Covid-19 is higher "for hypertensive patients, patients with cardiac arrhythmias, diabetics and patients with cardiovascular diseases".
RotterdamThe first drug capable of attacking and neutralizing the Coronavirus could be ready for experimentation after a group of Dutch researchers discovered an antibody.
BrusselsIn the teleconference between the 27 health ministers, Italy raised the alarm. But none of the "allies" responded.
The HagueThe Rotterdam mosque De Middenweg and the Amsterdam Blue Mosque are in the grip of the Muslim Brotherhood. This was the message from the terror expert and investigator Ronald Sandee this week during his testimony in the Dutch lower house of parliament on unwanted foreign influence in Islamic institutions.
