THE HAGUE, May 16: The Dutch opposition Christian Democrats were the clear winners in Wednesday’s parliamentary elections, while the right- wing grouping led by slain populist Pim Fortuyn bounded from nowhere to become the country’s second strongest party.
The centre-right Christian Democrats (CDA) gained 14 seats to 43 in the 150-seat parliament, enough to wrestle power away from the Social Democrats (PvdA), who won only 23 seats compared with 45 in 1998.
Christian Democrat Jan Peter Balkenende, 45, is set to become prime minister after a rapid rise within the CDA to become its leader last fall.
Balkenende said he initially would speak with the Fortuyn party, based on its strong showing. In the light of steep losses by ruling parties, it would not be wise to ignore the Fortuyn party, Balkenende told an interviewer. Queen Beatrix on Thursday called parties together for preliminary talks on forming a coalition.
Fortuyn’s controversial anti-immigration Pim Fortuyn List (LPF) entered the national arena in a big way, gaining 26 seats in its first national test.
Fortuyn, who founded the party, was shot at least four times in the head, chest and neck as he was leaving a Hilversum radio station on May 6. He died at the scene. The alleged assassin is believed to be a militant animal rights activist.
The government initially considered delaying the elections after the assassination.
Results on Wednesday represented a major defeat for Prime Minister Wim Kok. The two-term leader stepped down after a report critical of the role of the Dutch army as a UN peacekeeper in the Balkans conflict, and had been serving in a caretaker role.
Editorials on Thursday criticized the Kok coalition for ignoring the rising crime rate and growing dissatisfaction with liberal immigration policies, issues Pim Fortuyn had capitalized on.
The death of Fortuyn served to emotionalize a campaign that resulted in a clear shift of power to the right. The party of the slain leader elected its former spokesman, Mat Herben, as Fortuyn’s replacement.
The Liberals (VVD) stood a chance of gaining another seat after absentee ballots were counted, but at a provisional 23 seats, the party’s showing represented a sharp decline from 38 seats. The Left Liberals (D66) dropped from 14 seats to eight.
The small Socialist Party was the only member of the ruling coalition to gain seats, likely to jump from five to eight. The Greens stayed at 11 seats and ChristenUnie dropped to four from five. The religious SGP party had two seats, while the right wing Leefbaar Nederland finished with two seats.
NEXT DUTCH PM: Sober and straight with an uncanny resemblance to boy wizard Harry Potter, Jan Peter Balkenende pulled the Dutch Christian Democrat party out of a leadership crisis to win the general election on Wednesday.
As exit polls showed his Christian Democrats (CDA) were set to take the biggest share of the vote for a single party, a huge cheer went up at the cafe opposite the Dutch parliament in The Hague where the party was basing its post-election celebrations.
The former economics professor, who is now on course to replace Wim Kok as the Netherlands’ next prime minister, forms a stark contrast with the flashy maverick politician Pim Fortuyn, whose murder last week cast a pall over Wednesday’s election.
“With this kind of support from the population I think you should take up your responsibility. There’s a lot to do and I’m willing to take up that responsibility,” he told supporters.
“Citizens want a different sort of politics, in government attitude and content. We focused on that and it came out well.”
Balkenende rode a wave of discontent stoked by Fortuyn’s attacks on the centre-left coalition that ousted the CDA in 1994. Exit polls said his conservatives would grab at least 40 seats in the new 150-member parliament.
“Dull but 200-percent reliable” was one Dutch daily’s headline after the bespectacled Balkenende took the party’s helm in November after a bitter internecine struggle.
Balkenende never ruled out forming a coalition with the outspoken Fortuyn, despite being dismissed by the slain populist as “much too young and inexperienced” to lead the government.
Asked on Wednesday if he would team up with the Pim Fortuyn List (LPF), he said: “Looking at the results, the voters have given a clear signal. But we’ll have to discuss proposals and stability, especially with LPF.”
Balkenende, who looks younger than his 45 years, always carefully avoided the pitched rhetoric of other parties who dubbed Fortuyn a Dutch version of far-right politicians such as France’s Jean Marie Le Pen or Austria’s Joerg Haider.
SON OF GRAIN TRADER: Born to a grain trader in the southwest Zeeland province, Balkenende returned his party to prominence after eight years in opposition. He spent three years on the back benches of the Hague parliament before becoming party leader.
Derided by media as “a man without characteristics, an expressionless sphinx”, Balkenende laboured to re-unite the CDA in its rural heartlands and attract voters unhappy with what many viewed as a too-distant political elite.
“Everybody knew a Balkenende in school, always in the front row...unbeatable at checkers,” wrote one newspaper columnist.—dpa/Reuters