Netherlands: Liberal Prime Minister Rutte wins legislative elections
The rate of participation in the poll is historic.
Lhe legislative ballot in the Netherlands enshrined Prime Minister Mark Rutte, who welcomed a “massive vote of confidence”, granting 36 seats out of 150 in the House of Representatives. The participation rate in the poll organized these Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday in the Netherlands is historic, amounted to 82.6%, according to an exit poll conducted by Ipsos at the request of the public media NOS.
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte welcomed a “massive vote of confidence” Wednesday after three days of parliamentary elections in which his party emerged victorious. The liberal VVD party remains the largest formation in the country, securing 36 seats, or three more, according to preliminary results based on 63% of the ballots counted. “I note that the result of this election is that the voters of the Netherlands gave my party a massive vote of confidence,” Rutte told reporters in parliament in The Hague on Wednesday evening.
Decline for the PVV, far right party
The left-wing liberals of D66, also members of the governing coalition, would win a fine victory with 24 seats and thus become the country’s second party. Mark Rutte confirmed that his party and this center-left formation would start talks with a view to forming a government. This one “will have really a lot, a lot, a lot to do”, underlined the leader.
The PVV (far right), so far the largest opposition party, obtains 17 seats according to preliminary results, a loss of 3 folding seats. The Christian Democrat CDA, also in power, would win 15 seats (-4). The Socialist Party could then count on 9 seats. The Forum for Democracy would have 8 seats at this stage, overtaking environmentalists GroenLinks who would win 7. The House of Representatives has a total of 150 seats.
With 82.6% participation, this is a record since 1986 when the rate climbed to 86%. In the last legislative elections for the lower house in 2017, the turnout was 81.9%.
The elections, however, went very differently this year due to the coronavirus health crisis. People over 70 could vote by mail. The first two legislative days, the voting booths were open for the most vulnerable people.