Dutch to vote in COVID majority election

The Netherlands began three days of voting on March 15 in a primary test of the European government’s coronovirus policies, with Prime Minister Mark Rutte winning another term in office.

With the country under its most stringent COVID-19 restrictions, including an overnight curfew, polling stations will open to those at risk on March 15 and March 16, the day before the main election day.

Police used the Water Cannon to crack down on anti-Root protests on the eve of the vote, and riots shook the Netherlands in January against the introduction of the country’s first curfew since World War II.

But, Mr Rutte – who has been in power since 2010 and one of Europe’s longest-serving leaders – is expected to emerge as head of the Grand Alliance government, owing to its steady handling of the epidemic.

This has sunk earlier major issues such as immigration, and the poll showed Mr. Rutte’s liberal VVD (People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy) party with around 25% of the vote.

“It seems that right-wing voters really like VVD and Rutte or are really really prime ministers,” explained Andre Crowell, who teaches political science at Vrijje Universiteit Amsterdam. AFP.

“So he is not only getting what we call a ‘Prime Ministerial Bonus’, that being in the Prime Minister’s Office, but also providing a ‘Corona Bonus’, because he was the spokesperson during the epidemic.”

Mr Rutte is far ahead of the anti-Islam PVV (Freedom Party) of his nearest rival, Jarrett Wilders, by around 13%, which is likely to remain the second largest party in Parliament.

‘Teflon PM’

Dutch officials have urged the elderly and those who are vulnerable to coronovirus, to vote early, with most people, including party leaders, expected to wait until March 17 to cast their ballots.

Mr Rutte said curfew would be imposed from 9 am to 4.30 pm the next day so that people could vote “uninterrupted”.

His coalition partners, the conservative Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) and the Christian Union, are dying for third place in the election, meaning they may also return to government.

But with a large group of others, including the Greens (GroenLinks) not far behind, the size of any final coalition remains uncertain – and after the last elections in 2017, coalition negotiations took seven months.

Voters, however, said the major issue was the government’s response to the coronavirus epidemic – initially liberal but increasingly difficult restrictions, and the slow introduction of vaccination.

Moving on to the “Teflon” premiere to overcome the crisis, Mr Rutte recently shied away from the fact that in January he had to resign over a scandal in which thousands of parents were blamed for the school scandal went.

Since then he has been in the role of a caretaker.

‘Too many scams’

Floris van Dedem, a 22-year-old student, said, “The liberal party VVD has been in government for some time and I think there have been a lot of scams that would have survived if Coronovirus had not been here.” AFP In The Hague.

“I don’t think they could have had as many seats if the coronovirus hadn’t been around.”

However, other issues including education and nuclear power have come up in the campaign.

“In the end, I think this (coronavirus) won’t affect my choice because I think there are other topics that are important,” said Bridget Ten Kett, 40, an employee of the Dutch Ministry of Finance. AFP.

The vote will be closely watched in Europe, as Mr Rutte is an influential, if not always popular figure in European politics due to his frugal stance at the expense of the European Union.

In the 2017 elections, far-right leader Mr Wilders hoped to ride a wave of Brexit and Trump-inspired populism for victory, but the situation now appears to be different.

“The current government is rather popular, at least the Prime Minister is, but then in times of crisis people rally around the flag,” Mr. Wilders pointed out AFP in an interview.