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| Europe |
| 20-seat loss forces early exit for Dutch PM as party leader |
| 2010-06-10 |
| Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende resigned Wednesday as leader of the Christian Democratic Alliance after exit polls from the country's national elections projected that his party would lose 20 of its 41 parliamentary seats. Balkenende, who also gave up his seat in parliament, will remain in office as prime minister until a new coalition government is formed, said Xander van der Wulp, political editor for CNN affiliate NOS. That process could take months because no clear winner was projected in Wednesday's elections. The exit polls showed the center-right Liberal Party and center-left Labor Party tying with 31 seats each, while the far-right, anti-Islam Freedom Party of controversial Dutch politician Geert Wilders more than doubled its seats, going from nine to 23 -- far ahead of analyst expectations. With its strong showing at the polls, there was speculation that the Freedom Party could play a role in a forthcoming coalition government. |
| Posted by:tipper |
| #5 Then he'd better get an economic policy, tw. Toot sweet. Agreed, Barbara. The issue is that, except for the question of the Sharia invasion, Mr. Wilder is pretty much party line socialist. And because his was always a fringe party, that didn't matter. This will be a learning experience for him and his comrades. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2010-06-10 19:09 |
| #4 "Mr. Wilders had no economic policy. . . . Wilders was speaking aloud about his lifetime ambition to be prime minister." Then he'd better get an economic policy, tw. Toot sweet. |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2010-06-10 13:31 |
| #3 Remember, Mr. Wilders had no economic policy. So those Dutch who were concerned about the current euro problems would have voted Liberal. Several months ago the vote projections had Wilder's party taking about 37 seats, as I recall, and the Liberals at 10-20 or so... although I may have the numbers wrong. But at any rate, Wilders was speaking aloud about his lifetime ambition to be prime minister. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2010-06-10 13:24 |
| #2 They have to; the narrators are concerned about the number of fringe voters who agree with Wilder's Freedom Party on a number of issues but in the end voted for somebody else. In the shadow, unmentioned, is that sharia law would be even futher right of the Freedom Party according to the same appraisal and dialogue of this scribbler, if one were to give this person the benifit of impartiality. |
| Posted by: swksvolFF 2010-06-10 12:22 |
| #1 So Geert Wilders party won more seats (23 to 21) than the current governing party, yet they still have to label it as 'far-right'. |
| Posted by: phil_b 2010-06-10 04:25 |