The Right has many voters

In the Netherlands Geert Wilder's Party for Freedom (PVV) won four mandates in the European Parliament for the first time. The big losers in the elections were the parties of the grand coalition, in particular the Social Democrats. The liberal daily NRC Handelsblad comments: "This is an indication that there is considerable voter support for the ideas of the PVV, which are against Europe, against Islam and play up to people's xenophobia. This is a fact the other parties will have to live with. It will be difficult for them to win back these voters without renouncing their own liberal or social principles - partly because the PVV's victory was a major one and also because of the simple fact that the great majority of the Dutch population, 83 percent, decided not to vote for this party. … Will the election result now lead to the conclusion that the Balkenende government must resign, as the leaders of the PVV and the liberal VVD have already demanded? The answer is no. These were European elections."

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