NETHERLANDS: Dutch party leaders cast vote in neck-and-neck parliamentary elections

Record ID: 327861

  • Title: NETHERLANDS: Dutch party leaders cast vote in neck-and-neck parliamentary elections
  • Date: 12th September 2012
  • Summary: LEIDEN, THE NETHERLANDS (SEPTEMBER 12, 2012) (REUTERS-ACCESS ALL) DUTCH LABOUR PARTY LEADER, DIEDERIK SAMSOM ENTERING THE POLLING STATION WITH HIS WIFE AND CHILDREN WOMAN WATCHING SAMSOM SHOWING VOTING BALLOT TO HIS KIDS PHOTOGRAPHERS SAMSOM VOTING SAMSOM'S HAND CASTING THE PAPER IN THE BALLOT SAMSOM LEAVING THE VOTING STATION FOLLOWED BY JOURNALISTS
  • Embargoed: 27th September 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Netherlands
  • Country: Netherlands
  • Topics: Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVAN7KAOSUVK6JX1L6GMWZQV0T4
  • Story Text: Dutch party leaders cast their vote in neck and neck parliamentary elections dominated by the euro zone crisis issue.



    Dutch's incumbent Prime Minister Liberal Mark Rutte and his main competitor, Labour Party candidate, Diederik Samsom cast their votes on Wednesday (September 12) in an election that will determine the way the Netherlands will handle the euro zone crisis.
    The race is neck-and-neck between Rutte's centre-right Liberal Party and Samsom's centre-left Labour Party, both winning an equal number of 36 seats according to latest polls. Both Rutte and Samsom are pro-European, but the two disagree on how Europe and the EU should approach the situation.
    On the far right, Freedom Party leader Geert Wilders' tough anti-European and anti-Islam stance lost ground after causing the last government to collapse over budget talks. Latest polls suggest he will get around 16 seats. A close alley of Rutte's former government, Wilders is unlikely to end up in a coalition as most parties have said they don't want to govern with him again.
    Wilders campaign called for The Netherlands, a core European Union country, to pull out amid the continent-wide recession and to stop the immigration of Muslims to the country.
    Rutte cast his vote in his hometown the Hague. He said he wanted to continue with austerity measures to reduce the deficit and allow the market to correct itself, the approach backed by Germany and Chancellor Angela Merkel.
    "It's all about staying on course, and staying on course with making the Netherlands stronger and coming out of this crisis stronger. There is a real choice in this election. Also in Europe, will we continue with our close relationship with Germany and Finland in fighting the Euro crisis or will it make a shift to a more France-oriented Europe which I will be against. I would like to stay on course with our coalition with the northern European countries," said Rutte after he cast his ballot.
    Meanwhile, Samsom cast his vote in nearby Leiden. He arrived with his wife and their two children.
    Samsom's position would be to increase taxes on the rich and use government spending to stimulate the economy, much like the recently elected French President Socialist Francois Hollande.
    "It's up to the voters to decide how many seats I get. We will see. It's an exciting day," Samsom said as he left the polling station.
    Both parties have played down talks that they will end up in coalition, together with one or two smaller parties, but parliamentary arithmetic suggests this is the most probable outcome given a highly fragmented political landscape.
    Though the race is close between the Labour and Liberal parties, a reported one-fifth of Dutch voters said they were still undecided going in to election day, meaning there could still be a few surprises before the day ends.
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