Dutch far-right party second in EU poll
(THE HAGUE) - The Dutch far-right party of anti-Islamic lawmaker Geert Wilders came second in its first EU election on Friday and won four seats in the new parliament, results showed.
The Party for Freedom (PVV) took 17 percent of the vote, second only to Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende's Christian Democrats (CDA) which had 19.9 percent but lost two of its seven European parliament seats.
The CDA's governing coalition partner, the labour PvdA, was the biggest loser -- taking 12.1 percent compared with 23.6 percent in 2004 and losing four of its seven seats.
These results were released with 99.7 percent of the vote counted by Friday afternoon and only votes cast abroad still outstanding.
The third party in the government coalition, the small ChristenUnie, got 6.9 percent of the vote, up from 5.9 percent in 2004, taking two EU seats.
The opposition centrist and pro-European D66 won 11.3 percent and three seats, up from 4.2 percent and one seat in 2004.
The environmental Groenlinks garnered 8.8 percent and three seats, up from 7.4 percent and two seats, while the far-left Socialist Party remained steady at 7.1 percent and two seats.
Wilders had stressed he would not take up a seat on the European parliament, having put forward a relative unknown, Barry Madlener, to head the PVV's candidate list.
The party opposes the European parliament's very existence, with Wilders having told a newspaper the PVV was taking part to "bring it down from the inside."
Exit polls showed a voter turnout of 36.5 percent, down from 39.2 percent in the last election in 2004.
The Netherlands, with nearly 13 million registered voters, and Britain were the first countries to vote Thursday in polls being held across the bloc until Sunday.
mlr/agEU-vote-Netherlands-results
Dutch far-right party second in EU poll
=(GRAPHIC+PICTURE)=
THE HAGUE, June 5, 2009 (AFP) - The Dutch far-right party of anti-Islamic lawmaker Geert Wilders came second in its first EU election on Friday and won four seats in the new parliament, results showed.
The Party for Freedom (PVV) took 17 percent of the vote, second only to Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende's Christian Democrats (CDA) which had 19.9 percent but lost two of its seven European parliament seats.
The CDA's governing coalition partner, the labour PvdA, was the biggest loser -- taking 12.1 percent compared with 23.6 percent in 2004 and losing four of its seven seats.
These results were released with 99.7 percent of the vote counted by Friday afternoon and only votes cast abroad still outstanding.
The third party in the government coalition, the small ChristenUnie, got 6.9 percent of the vote, up from 5.9 percent in 2004, taking two EU seats.
The opposition centrist and pro-European D66 won 11.3 percent and three seats, up from 4.2 percent and one seat in 2004.
The environmental Groenlinks garnered 8.8 percent and three seats, up from 7.4 percent and two seats, while the far-left Socialist Party remained steady at 7.1 percent and two seats.
Wilders had stressed he would not take up a seat on the European parliament, having put forward a relative unknown, Barry Madlener, to head the PVV's candidate list.
The party opposes the European parliament's very existence, with Wilders having told a newspaper the PVV was taking part to "bring it down from the inside."
Exit polls showed a voter turnout of 36.5 percent, down from 39.2 percent in the last election in 2004.
The Netherlands, with nearly 13 million registered voters, and Britain were the first countries to vote Thursday in polls being held across the bloc until Sunday.
Text and Picture Copyright 2009 AFP. All other Copyright 2009 EUbusiness Ltd. All rights reserved. This material is intended solely for personal use. Any other reproduction, publication or redistribution of this material without the written agreement of the copyright owner is strictly forbidden and any breach of copyright will be considered actionable.
