NETHERLANDS: Dutch Christian Democrats hold on to power in a parliamentary election but face a battle to form a coalistion government

The Dutch Christian Democrats held on to power in a parliamentary election on Wednesday (November 22) but faced a battle to form a coalition government as many voters turned to parties on the far-left and far-right. Projections based on an almost complete vote count showed Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende's Christian Democrats (CDA) winning 41 seats in the 150-seat parliament, down from 44 in the 2003 election but far ahead of the opposition Labour on 32. The far-left Socialists (SP) soared to third place ahead of the liberal VVD, Balkenende's coalition partner, making his job of forming a strong government much more difficult. Balkenende rode to victory on an economic upturn in the past year. But who joins the next coalition will determine how closely he can stick to his business-friendly policies and tough line on immigration, long a major concern of Dutch voters. The other big winner was the new party of anti-immigration maverick Geert Wilders, who says the Netherlands risks being flooded by Muslims and wants an immediate halt to new migrants. "The question now is which party will be the largest party in the Netherlands and there was indeed big fight between the labour party, the social democrats and my party, the christian democrats and after all the difficult years, after the reforms that were necessary for the country now we have seen again that the Social Democrats have won this election and this is of great significance also for the future of the Netherlands," Balkenende said after meeting with his supporters. He added the job of building a coalition would be hard work. "Very complicated outcome of these elections, complicated result it will really take some time to find solutions but at this moment its a matter of having a party with my people because we are very happy with the result," Balkenende said. Dutch politics has become much more unstable since the murder of anti-immigration populist Pim Fortuyn in 2002, with three elections in four years and last year's rejection of the European constitution, opposed by both Wilders and the SP. Balkenende took power in 2002 in a coalition with Fortuyn's party that came second after their leader was killed. But that government collapsed after just 87 days, prompting a new vote in 2003 that took five months to produce a new coalition. The leader of the Free market VVD coalition partner whose party was responsible for the fall of the government when fellow minister Rita Verdonk started a dispute over the citizenship of Somali-born Dutch politician and Islam critic Ayaan Hirsi Ali, said voters had voted in several directions which were hard to read. "Very scattered, I think my party lost, also the Christian Democrats lost despite the fact that we had a very successful government period with the lowest inflation in Europe the highest employment, the lowest unemployment. Somehow people still feared that the modernisation of the social security and health would continue and my guess is that played a role in the election result," VVD leader Mark Rutte said. The night's big winner, the leader of the Socialist Party, Jan Marijinissen had said earlier when talking to his supporters that he was euphoric. "Its fine ma'am, real fine (you must be feeling extremely good?) Yes, especially for my people for the voters of course but also for the members of my party," he said before a debate between all the main parties. Independent far right candidate, Geert Wilders, an anti immigration politician seen as an heir to murdered populist Pym Fortuyn won 9 seats. "The message was to speak clearly to speak honestly about issues we have in the netherlands not just with high taxes and high crime but with the problems we face with the multicultural society, with the Islamisation of the netherlands and i said well there is enough islam in the Netherlands. I don't want to see more immigration, I don't want to see more mosques more Islamic schools and more than a half of a million people shared their view and voted for me today. so that is a very clear message. I am talking straight I am talking honestly not being afraid to be criticised and i believe a lot of people respected and shared my views," Wilders said. Neither Balkenende's current alliance with the VVD liberals nor a Labour-led coalition with the far-left Socialists and environmentalist Green Left have enough seats for a parliamentary majority, making long coalition talks likely. The CDA and Labour could try to form an uneasy right-left partnership like the one governing Germany despite likely discord over tax, pensions and immigration policy. But even that combination lacked the 76 seats needed for a majority. The leader of the conservative Christian Union said it could help the CDA and Labour try to form a government. Balkenende, 50, took credit for a strong economic recovery in the last year that he said was supported by unpopular welfare reforms which he pushed through early in his term. Economic growth is seen at about 3 percent this year and next. Labour leader Wouter Bos, 43, whose day got off to a bad start when he tried to vote without the right papers, accuses the CDA of pandering to big business and the wealthy. He says he would not serve under Balkenende but stay in parliament. He told supporters in Amsterdam: "Even thought the fact that the result is not what we have expected, we knew all the time what we had together, we believed in our program and showed enormous loyalty to each other, and that's why we are saying thank you very much for the enormous effort." His party wants to slow corporate tax cuts and lift spending on childcare and job-creation programmes. Labour has also promised an amnesty for some who have waited years for asylum. Balkenende has implemented some of the toughest immigration and integration laws in Europe since the meteoric rise of Fortuyn in 2002 and the killing of Islam critic and filmmaker Theo van Gogh by an Islamist militant in 2004. His government has also said it will ban Muslim women wearing face veils in public, a demand made by Wilders.

ITN Source | November 23, 2006

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