Subscribe free to our newsletters via your
. Nuclear Energy News .




DEMOCRACY
Dutch vote headed for pro-Europe coalition
by Staff Writers
The Hague (AFP) Sept 11, 2012


Despite a campaign marked by attacks on Brussels, the leading Dutch parties wound up efforts on Tuesday to sway undecided voters to elect a grudgingly Europe-friendly government.

Wednesday's vote is shaping into a battle between current Prime Minister Mark Rutte's Liberal VVD party and rising star Diederick Samsom's centre-left PvdA Labour party, but neither will be able to govern alone.

Latest opinion polls predict a middle-of-the-road coalition government involving the pro-austerity VVD and pro-stimulus PvdA will emerge once an expected 12.5 million voters cast their ballots.

"It is as good as set in stone that we will get a 'middle' government that will remain pro-Europe," political analyst Alfred Pijpers told AFP of the eurozone's fifth-largest economy.

Fiscally prudent Rutte's government has been allied to German Chancellor Angela Merkel, while Samsom's calls for stimulus echo those of France's Socialist President Francois Hollande, elected this year on similar promises.

Polls give both Rutte's VVD and the PvdA of former Greenpeace activist Diederik Samsom 35 seats in the 150-seat lower house.

But whatever shape the new government takes it will stick to helping Merkel crack the austerity whip on the backs of indebted southern European nations.

A coalition between the VVD, which garnered 31 seats in 2010 and the PvdA, which had 30, together with one or two smaller parties seems the most likely option to get a 76-seat majority.

Budget cuts in the founding EU member are already hitting Dutch pockets hard and weighing heavily on voters' minds. Analysts say at least one million voters have yet to decide who to vote for.

Party leaders will have one more chance to convince undecided voters when they face-off in a final live debate on Dutch television Tuesday night.

Both the Liberals and Labour are pro-Europe but because of cuts to pay for spendthrift eurozone nations, they are faced with an electorate that is increasingly negative towards Brussels although realistic about the impossibility of European disintegration.

"There is a general feeling -- although it's a perception -- that in Brussels it's about well-paid government officials with their interfering little rules," including in regards to Greece, said Bert van den Braak, a political analyst at Leiden University.

Rutte himself said in a debate Monday he would put the brakes on handing over further power to the European Union.

It was a spat over austerity measures to stay within a EU imposed deficit target that led to Rutte's coalition crashing in April.

"I am 'Mr No' when it comes to a Brussels that's expanding more and more," he said. Samsom announced last week he had telephoned Hollande to discuss the eurozone debt crisis, setting his compass clearly more towards France than Germany.

Van den Braak however said Rutte's anti-Europe rhetoric might change after the election once he is confronted with the political reality of tackling the debt crisis.

With opinion polls predicting a tight race, the focus Tuesday shifted towards the political duel between Rutte, 45 and Samsom, 41, for the position of prime minister.

But whether the VVD or PvdA wins, there will be no seismic shift in the Netherlands' relationship with Brussels, analysts said.

With months of horsetrading expected before a coalition is agreed, Van den Braak said: "The Netherlands simply has too much vested interest in Europe to leave it. It will continue on its current course... and that is the reality."

Germany Constitutional Court is meanwhile to rule Wednesday on the legality of two key eurozone's crisis tools -- a 500-billion-euro ($640-billion) rescue fund called the ESM, and the EU fiscal pact.

Observers say that should the German court order a legal review of parliament's recent approval of the measures, as wanted by many German citizens, it may also further aggravate anti-EU sentiment in the Netherlands.

.


Related Links
Democracy in the 21st century at TerraDaily.com






Comment on this article via your Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle








DEMOCRACY
Dutch Labour leader Samsom seen as PM after meteoric rise
Utrecht, Netherlands (AFP) Sept 8, 2012
Dutch Labour leader Diederik Samsom handed out roses and promised a new Europe as he campaigned Saturday to achieve what seemed impossible just weeks ago: become the Netherlands' next prime minister. "The Netherlands needs a party that understands that it's only with a properly functioning Europe that the Netherlands can function, only with a Europe that grows can the Netherlands have growth ... read more


DEMOCRACY
EU changes tack on biofuels on greenhouse gas concerns

Waste cooking oil makes bioplastics cheaper

Japan toilet maker showcases 'poop-powered' motorbike

Biorefinery makes use of every bit of a soybean

DEMOCRACY
China 'deeply regrets' EU solar panel probe

EU hits Chinese solar companies with massive dumping probe

Constellation announces the completion of 16MW solar installation

Showing the way to improved water-splitting catalysts

DEMOCRACY
Analysis sets price of global wind farms

SeaRoc charter MPI Adventure for Narec's Offshore Anemometry Hub Installation

Japan starts up first offshore wind farm

Maximum Protection against Dust; Minimal Effort

DEMOCRACY
France aims at tiered energy pricing to encourage savings

Renewable Energy Sources Could be the Key to Reaching Through to Iran

Electricity prices spark welcome political collaboration

Australian shipping emissions identified

DEMOCRACY
LEDs winning light race to save energy, the environment

China hikes fuel prices for second month

Ugandan govt. releases oil exploration map

Nigeria has former militants guarding oil

DEMOCRACY
Birth of a planet

A Hot Potential Habitable Exoplanet around Gliese 163

NASA's Kepler Discovers Multiple Planets Orbiting a Pair of Stars

How Old are the First Planets?

DEMOCRACY
Egypt subs deal boosts German arms sales

Nuclear-powered cruisers' upgrade: when economy is pointless

Taiwan to build six minehunters

Navy as an instrument of big strategy

DEMOCRACY
Early Mars may not have been hospitable after all: study

India: From Ferrying Rockets on Cycles to Eyeing Mars

Indian PM defends spending on space exploration

Hadley Crater - closing in on the Martian interior




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2014 - Space Media Network. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement