Dutch poll may lean to the right
THE TAIL THAT COULD SWING THE DOG Smaller than France or Germany, this ballot may signal EU rightwing shift.
Dutch elections on Wednesday will set the stage for others in France and Germany – that come against a background of eurosceptic or anti-immigrant sentiments.
On Wednesday, 12.9 million Dutch voters will be eligible to cast ballots in general elections contested by 28 parties and by 1 114 candidates.
The vote has boiled down to a tight race between MP Geert Wilders and his Freedom Party (PVV) and Prime Minister Mark Rutte and his Liberals (VVD).
Polls indicate that the anti-euro, anti-Islam PVV could score its best result since its creation in 2006.
The PVV would not necessarily be part of the next government, however, because that will likely be a coalition and most parties have pledged not to govern with the PVV.
A firebrand politician, Wilders has vowed to shut mosques, ban the Koran, close the country’s borders and take The Netherlands out of the EU, an institution that it helped found.
Leiden University analyst Geerten Waling believes the vote will produce “a very divided parliament” and warned: “It’s going to be much tougher to form a coalition government than before.”
Meanwhile, France’s presidential race has turned into a rollercoaster due to scandal.
The first round of voting takes place on April 23. If no candidate gets more than 50% of the vote, the top two go into a runoff on May 7.
The frontrunner, conservative Francois Fillon, has had to battle to stay in the race because of the revelations that he had paid his wife Penelope hundreds of thousands of euros from public funds, allegedly for fake jobs.
This has proved good news for Emmanuel Macron, an independent centrist, who polls show would reach the second round of the election.
It is here that he wil meet farright leader Marine Le Pen. Although polls show Le Pen losing in the second round, all eyes are on her nationalist FN, which is seeking to emulate Trump’s surprise November victory
In Germany, both leading parties still favour strong links within the EU. The anti-immigration Alternative for Germany trails here at 11% of the vote. – AFP