| schema:articleBody
| - Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte's party was set to win the most seats in elections dominated by the coronavirus, putting him on course to lead his fourth coalition government, exit polls predicted Wednesday. The centre-left D66 party, part of Rutte's current coalition, surged into second place while anti-Islam leader Geert Wilders' Freedom Party lost some ground to move into third place, public broadcaster NOS said. Millions of Dutch voters cast their ballots in socially distanced elections at museums, churches and bike-through polling stations on the third and final day of the elections, which have been dominated by the government's response to the pandemic. The exit polls showed Rutte's liberal VVD (People's Party for Freedom and Democracy) gaining two seats to win 35 in total, broadly in line with what opinion polls had predicted. The main surprise was the strong showing of D66, led by Dutch foreign trade minister Sigrid Kaag, predicted to increase its parliamentary share to 27 seats, and overtake its coalition partner the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA), now set to be in fourth place with 14 seats. Far-right Wilders looked set to lose his status as the second biggest party, with exit polls predicting he would win 17 seats, down three. Rutte had earlier said he was "cautiously" optimistic as he arrived in trademark style on his bike to vote at a school in The Hague. "I am proud of what we have achieved in the last 10 years in the Netherlands," Rutte told reporters, adding that it was "the best performing economy in the whole of Europe. "The main question during these elections on the table is who best can lead this country forward through the crisis of corona, and then make a new start with this country, I hope from summer onwards." Mask-wearing citizens voted in locations ranging from the famed Van Gogh museum in Amsterdam to railway stations. A limited number of voting centres had been open on Monday and Tuesday for the elderly and vulnerable, with voters also allowed out after a nationwide 9pm coronavirus curfew, before polls opened for everyone on Wednesday. Special polling stations for bikes and cars were also set up to allow people to keep social distancing, while over-70s could cast their ballots by post. Campaigning was almost totally halted by the pandemic, meaning that parties relied instead on TV debates and social media to reach out to voters. "The campaign is different than it used to be and compared to other elections, and it's really focused on the here and now," Twan Compen, 37, told AFP in The Hague. Another voter, Erik Spruijt, 35, said Rutte and the VVD were "a bit untouchable". But with a near-record 37 parties in the mix, and months of coalition talks looming in the fractured Dutch parliamentary scene, the shape of any future government is still up in the air. Rutte ruled out a coalition with Wilders "because of what he said about Islam and the Koran", or with far-right, Covid-sceptic Forum for Democracy leader Thierry Baudet because of what he "has done in terms of anti-Semitism and racism". The bleached-blonde Wilders criticised Rutte's handling of the coronavirus crisis. The Netherlands has recorded more than 1.1 million infections and more than 16,000 deaths, and is currently under its most stringent health measures yet. "I don't blame the Dutch government of course for the virus. But they were not prepared," Wilders said, adding that "our patients had to be sent to Germany even". Anti-lockdown discontent continues to simmer following devastating riots against the introduction of the curfew in January, with protests against Rutte in The Hague on Sunday. However he has maintained his reputation as the "Teflon" premier for emerging unscathed from crises. Rutte also recently shrugged off the fact that he had to resign in January over a scandal in which thousands of parents were falsely accused of scamming childcare. Victory on Wednesday would confirm him as one of the EU's longest-serving leaders after Germany's Angela Merkel and Hungary's Viktor Orban -- even if his hawkish stance on spending has seen other EU chiefs dub him "Mr No". dk/pvh
|
![[RDF Data]](/fct/images/sw-rdf-blue.png)
![[cxml]](/fct/images/cxml_doc.png)
![[csv]](/fct/images/csv_doc.png)
![[text]](/fct/images/ntriples_doc.png)
![[turtle]](/fct/images/n3turtle_doc.png)
![[ld+json]](/fct/images/jsonld_doc.png)
![[rdf+json]](/fct/images/json_doc.png)
![[rdf+xml]](/fct/images/xml_doc.png)
![[atom+xml]](/fct/images/atom_doc.png)
![[html]](/fct/images/html_doc.png)