Sharp reversal for Social Democrats in Dutch elections

Although the social democratic Labour Party (PvdA) has spent over four years in opposition, it lost nearly as many votes as the combined losses of all the government coalition parties. The party that registered the greatest gains was the Socialist Party, which has its origins in a Maoist organisation. It was able to treble its vote and became the third-strongest party.

All three government parties suffered a substantial loss of votes. The Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) of Prime Minister Jan-Peter Balkenende lost 1.6 percent, but with 26 percent of the vote (2.6 million) and 41 seats, it remains the largest group in the Dutch parliament, which has a total of 150 seats.

The right-wing Liberal Party (VVD) lost 3 percent. With 14.6 percent of the vote it dropped to fourth place. The best known member of the VVD is the outgoing immigration minister Rita Verdonk, who personified the xenophobic policy of the former coalition government.

Democrats 66 (D’66), which quit the government coalition in June because of a conflict with Verdonk, saw its vote cut in half, recording only 2 percent.

The PdvA registered the biggest losses. Its vote declined from 27.3 percent in the last national elections in 2003 to 21.5 percent this time—a loss of 546,000 votes. Just over 2 million Dutch voters cast ballots for the social democrats.

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http://wsws.org/articles/2006/dec2006/neth-d07.shtml