The media is spinning it as a loss, but the fact is that Geert Wilders and the Party of Freedom outperformed the polls in the Dutch elections:
Right-wing Dutch MP Geert Wilders has hailed his party’s General Election results despite exit polls saying that Holland’s liberal Prime Minister Mark Rutte will cling to power.
Rutte’s VVD party currently has 31 seats in 150-place parliament, according to the polls, while Wilders’ PVV party is joint second, alongside two other parties, with 19 seats.
The polls represent a decrease of 10 seats for Rutte and an increase of seven seats for Wilders. Rutte – who has vowed never to work alongside Wilders – will now be forced to form a coalition government, which is predicted to take him months.
Earlier today: The survey showed that the PVV had dropped to just 16 seats in the 150-member parliament but VVD is now on track to get 29 seats.
It’s a good result. It’s not a great result, but it is another step in the right direction.