Dutch 'Rutte' the far-right

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Dutch Prime Mark Rutte gestures during a press conference
Dutch Prime Mark Rutte gestures during a press conference

The Hague - His win was eight seats down from the 2012 polls when his party won 41 seats.

By AFP

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Published: Thu 16 Mar 2017, 10:00 PM

Last updated: Fri 17 Mar 2017, 12:04 AM

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte on Thursday strengthened his election win over rival anti-Islam MP Geert Wilders, as with almost all votes counted, his party was credited with 33 seats.
Wilders celebrated too however as his far-right Freedom Party looked set to emerge the second largest in the 150-seat parliament, with a total of 20 MPs. The burning question was what now would be the fate of Wilders and his PVV.
According to Dutch news agency ANP, with some 97 per cent of votes counted, Rutte's Liberal VVD party had moved ahead from the exit polls issued in the immediate hours after Wednesday's ballot.
His win was eight seats down from the 2012 polls when his party won 41 seats.
But it will put Rutte in pole position to form the next coalition government, with party leaders set to get down to talks soon.


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