Summary Claire Phipps Claire Phipps
The results VVD, the centre-right party led by incumbent prime minister Mark Rutte, has emerged as the biggest party, knocking back the predicted surge of Geert Wilders’ far-right PVV. Rutte’s party looks likely to take 33 seats (a loss of eight MPs) and will – as expected and is typical for the 150-seat Dutch parliament – need to enter into coalition talks to form a new government. Wilders, despite a projected second-place finish overall with around 20 seats, is not likely to be part of those negotiations, with all major parties unwilling to work with his populist, anti-Islam MPs. The collapse of Rutte’s former coalition partners, the social democratic PvdA, slumping from 38 seats to a projected nine, means the PM will need to seek new agreements. The Christian Democrats (centre to centre-right) and Democrats 66 (economic: centre-right, social: centre-left), each with an expected 19 MPs, are the obvious candidates. But the unexpected victors of the night were GreenLeft, led by 30-year-old Jesse Klaver, which boosted its four seats to a projected 14. They could now play kingmaker in coalition talks. Talks are likely to last for some time – possibly weeks or months. The official tally of results will be published on 21 March. The reaction Rutte hailed the win, saying it was the moment in which The Netherlands said ‘Stop’ to the wrong sort of populism. Wilders called Rutte’s remarks very worrying, as if populists are semi-Nazis … If all the losers like the VVD form a government, we need to have a strong opposition of winners like the PVV. The result was welcomed in Europe with German chancellor Angela Merkel telling Rutte: I look forward to working with you as friends, neighbours and Europeans. French president François Hollande congratulated Rutte: The values of openness, respect for others, and a faith in Europe’s future are the only true response to the nationalist impulses and isolationism that are shaking the world. And this was GreenLeft’s response to its electoral surge: [Video] The collapse of the Dutch Labour party PvdA – on course to fall from 38 seats to just nine – means its role as coalition partner to VVD is under threat. Leader Lodewijk Asscher has reportedly said he sees no role for his shrunken party in new coalition talks, which are likely instead to involve the Christian Democrats and Democrats 66, with a possible role for GreenLeft too. Asscher called the result “a blow”: (Source: <https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2017/mar/15/dutch-election-voters-go-to-the-polls-in-the-netherlands-live>.) -- Peace Is Doable -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send an email to [email protected]. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
