Dutch voters choose on economy, immigration policy; right set for victory in national vote

Dutch voters decide on economy, immigration

AMSTERDAM — Voters appeared likely to shift the Netherlands more to the political right in national elections Wednesday, emulating other European nations amid economic woes and discontent over immigration.

The conservative VVD party under leader Mark Rutte holds a solid lead in opinion surveys, running on a deficit-busting, tough-on-immigration platform. The overtly anti-Islam Freedom Party of Geert Wilders, which wants a ban on all immigration from nonwestern countries, also appears set to book large gains.

A softer approach promoted by left-leaning parties including former Amsterdam Mayor Job Cohen’s Labor Party is very unlikely to win a majority, though Labor is running second in polls and has made a late surge.

Cohen wants to preserve government social programs, raise taxes and make it easier for immigrants to integrate rather than punishing those that fail.

Polls close at 9 p.m.

In a final televised debate Tuesday night, Rutte mocked one of Cohen’s signature lines — that it is the primary duty of an executive to “hold things together.”

Cohen won praise for his handling of a tense period in Amsterdam after the murder of filmmaker Theo van Gogh by a Muslim fanatic in 2004.

“The difference between you and me, Mr. Cohen, is that I don’t want to hold things together. I want to get things going,” Rutte said.

Cohen shot back that Rutte’s plans — including raising the retirement age, increasing health care costs and banning welfare for any immigrant for 10 years after arrival — were equivalent to electroshock therapy.

“You know what happens when you give an electric shock: there are great risks of crippling” the economy, Cohen said.

Wilders has frequently dominated the Dutch debate with his clear, sharp and often polarizing views on Islam and immigrant crime since he left the VVD to create his own party in 2004.

He is facing criminal prosecution in the Netherlands for hate speech after equating Islam to Nazism and calling for a ban on the Quran.

He is best-known internationally for his short film “Fitna” which offended many Muslims by equating Islam with violence.

His party came first in municipal elections in the city of Almere in March, but proved unable to build a governing coalition there — a fact that may have driven some of his voters back to the VVD. Wilders’ party also won a mock election held among schoolchildren nationwide earlier this week.