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| Europe |
| Balkenende Wins Dutch Election, Exit Polls Indicate |
| 2006-11-23 |
| Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende's Christian Democrats won the most seats in today's elections as voters endorsed policies that have brought the fastest economic growth in six years, exit polls indicated. The Christian Democratic Alliance took 43 of the 150 seats in parliament, ahead of the main opposition Labor Party, led by Wouter Bos, which took 35 seats, according to a poll for NOS television. A second poll for RTL television showed the CDA ahead by 38 seats to 34. ``In the first years of his cabinet, Balkenende made all the painful reforms,'' said Charles Kalshoven, a senior economist at ABN Amro Holding NV in Amsterdam. ``The economy is doing a lot better this year. Consumer confidence is really very strong and if consumer confidence is up, so are the ruling parties in the polls.'' Balkenende, 50, who's been in power for four years, and his party had led in the opinion polls since September, when his government forecast the first budget surplus since 2000. The government has pledged to cut taxes, while the jobless rate is dropping and consumer confidence is hovering at a five-year high. ``We have strengthened the economy,'' Balkenende said yesterday during a televised debate with the leaders of the biggest parties. ``It has been a really hard fight for us, but we've come out better.'' |
| Posted by:Fred |