Thursday, 16 March 2017

Mark Rutte re-elected after beating far-right candidate Geert Wilders

Mark Rutte wins Geert Wilders

Finally, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte re-elected after several months of stiff opposition from a far-right leader Geert Wilders.

The PM’s VVD party according to report took 31 of the 150 seats in the parliament. While his major rival Mr Wilders has been reported to have taken 19 parliamentary seats.

The election had huge turnout with voters having up to 28 parties to choose from, and with election being over, it believed that coalition talks will commence which may take some months to conclude. Though some parties have indicated their unwillingness to work with the PVV.

The far-right candidate Mr Wilders who was ready to close mosques, ban the Koran and exit the EU bolstered his popularity by a 3% rise higher than previous elections.

It was reported by a Sky reporter that: "With the exit polls as they are, Geert Wilders has failed to do what many suspected he might be able to achieve which was to win the most seats in the Dutch parliament. That hasn't happened."

He also said: "The populist uprising that many had expected - that Geert Wilders might be able to achieve - has not come to pass."

Mr Rutte, who had 40 seats in the outgoing parliament, vowed never to work with Mr Wilders again, turned off by his incendiary remarks, and after the PVV caused an earlier coalition to collapse in 2010.

The Greens saw a big rise in their support, from 2% in 2012 to 11% this time.




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