March 15, 2017•Update: March 15, 2017
THE HAGUE, Netherlands
The Dutch people go to the polls Wednesday for tightly contested general elections amid tension with Turkey after its government ministers were blocked from holding rallies there
Millions of Dutch are going to the ballot boxes in the shadow of rising anti-Islamism, xenophobia, and the spat between Ankara and Amsterdam.
The Dutch polls are being seen as a bellwether for elections later this year in France and Germany, and so a sign of Europe’s future.
The vote comes on the heels of some EU countries barring Turkish ministers from holding rallies for the upcoming April 16 constitutional referendum in Turkey, and a subsequent fierce war of words.
On Saturday, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu was refused permission to land in the Netherlands and Family and Social Affairs Minister Fatma Betul Sayan Kaya was forced to leave the country under police escort.
A protest of their mistreatment drew a fierce crackdown from Rotterdam police.
The incidents drew strong criticism from Ankara, including diplomatic notes sent to the Netherlands in protest.
Coalition expected
Around 250,000 Turks in the Netherlands are eligible to vote in Turkey’s April 16 referendum.
Voting started at 7.00 a.m. local time (0600GMT).
At least 114 candidates from 28 political parties are competing for seats in the 150-seat parliament, including 27 Turkish-origin candidates.
As no outright winner is expected, the election will likely pave the way for a coalition government.
Counting will begin at 21:00 local time (20:00GMT), and the first results are expected late at night. Official results will be announced on March 21.
The process of forming a government is expected to take days, weeks, or even months. After 1977 elections the government was formed in 208 days, and in 2012 it took 54 days.
At least half of the 28 parties competing in the election are not expected to win seats.
According to an I&O poll, Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s center-right liberal People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), which got a bounce in the polls from the Turkey spat, is in the lead and is expected to win 27 seats. Greens and Democrats’ centrist D66 follows Rutte’s party, with 20 seats expected, while the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) is expected to win 19 seats.
Geert Wilders’s extreme-right Party for Freedom seems to be leaking support, as it is now expected to win 16 seats, down from the previous prospect of 20. Lodewijk Asscher’s Labor Party (PvdA), which was a government partner with 38 deputies after the 2012 election, is expected to win 12 seats.
This year, Turkish lawmakers Tunahan Kuzu and Selcuk Ozturk, who formed the DENK (Think) Party in 2015 after their expulsion from the Labor Party, will also take part in the elections. DENK is expected to win three seats in parliament, in large part by attracting Muslims and expatriate Turks in the Netherlands.
Reporting by Hasan Esen:Writing by Handan Kazanci
