Political uncertainty in the Netherlands
13 03 10
From the Atlantic Sentinel:
Local elections in the Netherlands on March 3 already forecast the tangled political landscape which the country now faces in the run-up to the parliamentary elections of June. The Labor Party, which pulled out of the coalition with the christian-democrats of Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende because it wouldn’t consider a continued military presence in Afghanistan, prospered in the polls, if only slightly but no viable three-party majority has emerged as of yet. Party leader Wouter Bos announced his resignation this Friday, naming Amsterdam mayor Job Cohen his successor. Unlike Bos, Cohen is thought of as a credible candidate for prime minister and as more of a traditional socialist with the ability to regain support from low-income families.
After the parliamentary elections, scheduled for June 9, the participation of the Liberal Party will be pivotal. The liberals came to a goverment thrice with the christian-democrats in the wake of the murder of right-wing politician Pim Fortuyn in 2002. Their popularity has taken a beating since Geert Wilders left the party in 2004 to run on his own ticket. It is difficult to imagine a future government without them nevertheless. Wilders appeals to voters with his asperations of Islam and the multicultural society. His Freedom Party specifically blames Labor for today’s immigration problems which seems to rule out a coalition between the two. But Wilders is set to lead the Netherlands’ second political faction in terms of size. In spite of left-wing attempts to exclude him from power, the christian-democrats, at least, are willing to work with him.
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