Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s center-right party beat
off a challenge from far-right firebrand Geert Wilders on Wednesday to
come first in a parliamentary election despite losing seats, a
projection based on partial results showed.
Rutte’s People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) was
projected to win 32 seats, nine fewer than at the last election in 2012.
Wilders’ anti-Islam Party for Freedom (PVV) was in a race for second
place with two other parties. He was predicted to end up with 19 seats,
up four on last time.
The other contenders for second place, the Christian Democrats and
the liberal D66 party, both made gains. They were projected to end up
with 20 and 18 seats respectively, according to a projection from Dutch news agency ANP, with around 28 percent of votes counted.
The Labor Party (PvdA), Rutte’s junior coalition partner, faced the
biggest electoral loss in its history. It was forecast to win just 10
seats — down from 38 last time. The GreenLeft party posted a spectacular
advance, going from four seats to 14 in the 150-member lower house of
parliament.(...)
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