Posted on 03/03/2008 1:10:48 PM PST by knighthawk
THE HAGUE, 04/03/08 - The Christian democrats (CDA) would only win 29 seats if general elections were held now. The disfavour of the voters is the result of the party's attempts to prevent Geert Wilders's film on the Koran from being shown, pollster Maurice de Hond reported.
Last week, CDA still scored 32 seats. The new result of 29 is the party's lowest score since the spring of 2006. CDA currently has 41 seats in the Lower House, which has 150 members.
The three seats lost by the CDA would be divided between Wilders' anti-'Islamisation' Party for Freedom (PVV), the conservatives (VVD) and Proud of the Netherlands (TON). Each of these parties would win one more seat than last week.
PVV (now 9 seats) and VVD (now 22 seats) would each win 16 seats. Proud of the Netherlands, the new party being set up by ex-VVD MP Rita Verdonk, would enter the Lower House with 19 seats, De Hond reports.
Labour (PvdA) would grow from 20 to 21 seats, at the expense of the Socialist Party (SP), who would drop from 20 to 19. For both parties, this is less than their current Lower House representation: 33 seats for PvdA and 25 for SP.
The leftwing Greens (GroenLinks) would climb from 7 to 11 seats, while the centre-left D66 would make a striking come-back from 3 to 8. Progressive Christian party ChristenUnie would increase from 6 to 7. Orthodox Christian party SGP and the Party for Animals (PvdD) would both remain stable at 2.
"The poll is clearly influenced by the commotion that has developed since Thursday concerning the imminent release of Wilders' film," De Hond concluded. "Since some CDA voters support Wilders and his film, the reactions of CDA politicians have further eroded the loyalty of the electorate to the CDA".
CDA Minister Maxime Verhagen appealed explicitly to Wilders on Thursday not to broadcast the film. CDA Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende also pressed the PVV leader on Friday to withdraw the film, although he worded this less strongly than Verhagen. In the Lower House, the CDA was the only party that supported Verhagen's explicit call to drop the movie.
Strikingly, according to the poll results, not a single combination of three parties could form a majority government coalition. And without the CDA, not even a four-party coalition is possible. It is also unique that the largest party, which is still the CDA, is supported by less than 20 percent of the electorate, and that there are six parties within a range of 16 to 29 seats.
Ping
One of the reason is this:
Government investigated ban on Wilders film”
The government has looked into whether the anti-Koran film from Geert Wilders can be banned before its release.
3 March 2008
AMSTERDAM – The government has looked into whether the anti-Koran film from Geert Wilders can be banned before its release. Sources closed to the cabinet have confirmed this, the Telegraaf reports.
The government prosecutor has investigated whether there are legal grounds to prevent the film from being released.
Taking the matter to court would not be entirely hopeless, in light of the threats from abroad, the Telegraaf reports. A ban would come upon opposition from Labour PvdA however.
[Copyright Expatica News + ANP 2008]
http://www.expatica.com/nl/articles/news/_Government-investigated-ban-on-Wilders-film_.html
Yes, the end of freedom of speech is nearing in the Netherlands. The first dhimmistate is nearing...
It's hard to tell because the story is somewhat convoluted, but it looks to me like the Dutch may actually be pulling back from the abyss.
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