The Dutch tested their own tolerance for immigration and Islam on Wednesday in an election magnified by a furious row with Turkey, the first of three polls in the European Union (EU) this year where nationalist parties are seeking breakthroughs.
The centre-right VVD party of Prime Minister Mark Rutte (50) is vying with the PVV (Party for Freedom) of anti-Islam and anti-EU firebrand Geert Wilders (53) to form the biggest party in Parliament. As many as 13 million voters began casting ballots at polling stations across the country that was to close at 2000 GMT.
With as many as four out of 10 voters undecided a day before voting and a tight margin of just 4% between leading candidates, the outcome was unpredictable.
“Whatever the outcome of the election today the genie will not go back into the bottle and this patriotic revolution, whether today or tomorrow, will take place,” Mr. Wilders said after voting at a school in The Hague.
Mr. Rutte, who has called the Dutch vote a quarter-final before a French semi-final and German final said a Wilders victory would be felt well beyond the Netherlands.
20% threshold
“I think the rest of the world will then see after Brexit, after the American elections again the wrong sort of populism has won the day,” he said.
Unlike the U.S. or French presidential elections, there will be no outright Dutch winner under its system of proportional representation. Up to 15 parties could win a seat in Parliament and none are set to reach even 20% of the vote.
Experts predict a coalition-building process that will take many months once the final tally is known.
