Dutch Prime Minister Rutte leads general election investigations as right-wingers lose ground

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte claimed an “overwhelming” victory in Wednesday’s election and promised to use his fourth term to rebuild the country after the coronavirus pandemic.

Already one of Europe’s longest-serving leaders after ten years in office, exit polls showed that Rutte’s Liberal Party clearly won the most seats in parliament after the socially distanced three-day vote.

The pro-EU D66 party, which has challenged Rutte’s European policies as part of his current government, is on the rise to second place, while anti-Islam leader Geert Wilders lost ground to move into the third public broadcaster. NOS predicted.

The populist leader Thierry Baudet’s party did unexpectedly well due to Covid – skeptical voices in a country that has recently suffered its worst riots in decades after the introduction of a coronavirus ban.

“The voters in the Netherlands have given my party overwhelming confidence,” a smiling Rutte told reporters in parliament.

Rutte said that “not everything has gone well in the last ten years”, including his resignation in January due to a scandal in which people were racized and then wrongly accused of cheating child benefits.

“But of course the main question is also on the table for the coming years how to build the country in the future after the corona.”

He added that “I have energy for another ten years.”

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte: One of Europe’s longest-serving leaders

‘Traitor’ Rutte

The Netherlands has registered more than 1.1 million infections and 16,000 deaths and is currently undergoing the most stringent health measures to date, including curfews and bar and restaurant closures.

Millions of masked voters voted under pandemic conditions in museums, churches and bicycle-based polling stations on the third and final day of the election, which has been dominated by the government’s response to the pandemic.

A limited number of polling stations had been open on Monday and Tuesday for the elderly and vulnerable, and voters were also allowed after the curfew before voting opened for all on Wednesday.

The Dutch parliament is now set to have 17 parties in parliament, two more than the current number, and a sign that coalition negotiations could be as difficult as in 2017 when they took seven months.

The initial polls showed that Rutte’s liberal VVD (People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy) was given three seats to win 36 in total, compared to the 33 they won four years ago.

The pale blonde right-wing leader Wilders looked set to lose his PVV (Freedom Party) status as the second-largest party, with initial polls predicting he would win 17 seats, down three.

Congratulations to Rutte despite a campaign in which he called him a “traitor”, Wilders said he “had hoped for a little more.” but that “we are still the third party in the Netherlands.”

Table dance

The biggest surprise was the strong showing of D66, led by Dutch Foreign Minister Sigrid Kaag, predicted to increase its parliamentary share by eight to 27 seats.

It took its coalition partner Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA), led by Hawkish Finance Minister Wopke Hoekstra, who is now in fourth place with 14 seats, down five.

Kaag – who tweeted a picture of himself dancing on a table to celebrate – said the result was “confirmation that we are the only progressive party that has had influence in recent years.”

Another key winner was the strict EU-Volt party, which won its first three seats ever.

Traditional left parties had a bad night and lost seats overall.

Meanwhile, Thierry Baudet’s Forum for Democracy, which was criticized for its anti-vaccine comments and for being the only leader to hold demonstrations despite the pandemic, won eight seats, up from two.

Rutte previously ruled out a coalition with Wilders “because of what he said about Islam and the Koran”, or with Baudet because of what he “has done in terms of anti-Semitism and racism”.

Rutte said that the results meant that he would talk to D66 and probably to CDA.

Victory will confirm him as one of the EU’s longest-serving leaders after Germany’s Angela Merkel and Hungary’s Viktor Orban – although his hawkish approach to spending has seen other EU leaders call him “No”.

(AFP)