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Far-right surge shocks the Dutch

THE HAGUE: The spectacular election breakthrough of the far-right anti-Muslim Party for Freedom shocked the Netherlands on Thursday as two mainstream parties braced for weeks of coalition haggling.

The pro-business Liberal VVD party had 31 seats and the Labour party (PvdA) 30, with 99.6 per cent of the vote counted after Wednesday's election.

But far-right PVV leader Geert Wilders demanded a share of government after his party came third with 24 seats, more than doubling its current nine seats in the 150-member Parliament.

“Nobody in The Hague can bypass the PVV anymore,” said Mr. Wilders, whose party wants an end to immigration from Muslim countries and a ban on new mosques and the Koran.

“We want to be part of the new government,” declared Mr. Wilders, a distinctive figure with a shock of dyed blonde hair who is under 24-hour protection and has to live at secret addresses because of his controversial political stand.

The PVV pushed the Christian Democratic Action party of Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende into fourth place — losing 20 seats to end at 21 — prompting him to resign as party leader and MP after eight years as Dutch Premier. — AFP

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