Pakistanis angry over detentions in Times Sq. case Monday, May 24, 2010
ISLAMABAD – Relatives of three men detained by Pakistan for alleged links to the suspect in the attempted Times Square bombing say the men are innocent.
They
AFP - Thursday, August 6TAIPEI (AFP) - - Taiwan's Beijing-friendly government on Wednesday denied boycotting an Australian film festival amid a row over the e
BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel suffered a double blow on Thursday as a senior party ally in east German
Minister seeks closure of anti-Berlusconi websites Wednesday, December 16, 2009
ROME (AFP) - – The Italian government moved Tuesday to close down Internet sites encouraging further violence against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who
By ELAINE KURTENBACH,AP Business Writer AP - Wednesday, March 18SHANGHAI - Asia's stock market rally seemed to be running out of steam Wednesday, despite an
Edition:
U.S.
Africa
Arabic
Argentina
Brazil
Canada
China
France
Germany
India
Italy
Japan
Latin America
Mexico
Russia
Spain
United Kingdom
Home
Business
Business Home
Economy
Technology
Media
Small Business
Legal
Deals
Earnings
Social Pulse
Business Video
The Freeland File
Aerospace & Defense
Markets
Markets Home
U.S. Markets
European Markets
Asian Markets
Global Market Data
Indices
M&A
Stocks
Bonds
Currencies
Commodities
Futures
Funds
peHUB
World
World Home
U.S.
Brazil
China
Euro Zone
Japan
Mexico
Russia
India Insight
World Video
Reuters Investigates
Decoder
Politics
Politics Home
Election 2012
Campaign Polling
Political Punchlines
Supreme Court
Politics Video
Tech
Technology Home
MediaFile
Science
Tech Video
Tech Tonic
Social Pulse
Opinion
Breakingviews
Money
Money Home
Tax Break
Lipper Awards 2012
Global Investing
MuniLand
Unstructured Finance
Linda Stern
Mark Miller
John Wasik
James Saft
Analyst Research
Alerts
Watchlist
Portfolio
Stock Screener
Fund Screener
Personal Finance Video
Money Clip
Investing 201
Life
Health
Sports
Arts
Faithworld
Business Traveler
Entertainment
Oddly Enough
Lifestyle Video
Pictures
Pictures Home
Reuters Photographers
Video
Reuters TV
Reuters News
Article
Comments (0)
Pictures
Editor's choice
Our best photos from the last 24 hours. Slideshow
Follow Reuters
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
YouTube
Read
Something Wilde: Book returned to Chicago library after 78 years
31 Aug 2012
At Jackson Hole, a growing fear for Fed independence
02 Sep 2012
Iran could strike U.S. bases if Israel attacks: Hezbollah
4:09pm EDT
Israeli "skunk" fouls West Bank protests
7:27am EDT
UPDATE 1-Netanyahu urges international "red lines" to stop Iran
02 Sep 2012
Discussed
74
Romney tells voters to move on from Obama disappointment
66
At Jackson Hole, a growing fear for Fed’s independence
66
French pessimism nears all-time high -poll
Sponsored Links
Pictures
Reuters Photojournalism
Our day's top images, in-depth photo essays and offbeat slices of life. See the best of Reuters photography. See more | Photo caption
Refighting Napoleon
Re-enactors refight Borodino, a pivotal battle in Napoleon's invasion of Russia that lead to his defeat. Slideshow
A day of labor
As the U.S. and Canada celebrate Labor Day, a look at the labors of workers around the world in the past 24 hours. Slideshow
Dutch Liberals widen lead over Socialists: polls
Tweet
Share this
Email
Print
Related News
Rabbi warns Dutch populist Wilders over ritual slaughter ban
Wed, Aug 29 2012
Dutch Liberals pull ahead of Socialists after debate: poll
Tue, Aug 28 2012
Dutch Liberals, Socialists in close race ahead of vote
Sun, Aug 26 2012
Merkel's party keeps lead, coalition ally down: poll
Sun, Aug 26 2012
Insight: Dutch damned by homeowner debt
Mon, Aug 20 2012
Analysis & Opinion
Germany’s governing Christian Democrats call for gay couple tax equality
Will Romney’s convention be Palin and Paul’s insurrection?
Related Topics
World »
Euro Zone »
Dutch Prime Minister and Dutch Liberal Party leader Mark Rutte smiles during a political debate in Hilversum August 30, 2012.
Credit: Reuters/Michael Kooren
By Sara Webb
AMSTERDAM |
Mon Sep 3, 2012 5:37pm EDT
AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte of the Liberal Party has widened his lead over Socialist Party leader Emile Roemer in the run up to an election on September 12 that has been dominated by the euro zone crisis, two surveys showed on Monday.
However, with no single party set to win more than about a quarter of the seats in parliament, the Netherlands still faces the prospect of months of coalition talks and political uncertainty.
The fiscally conservative country is considered a core euro zone member and is one of the few that still has a triple-A credit rating.
But the election has highlighted growing discontent over Europe, in particular over the high cost of bailing out weaker euro zone states and the pressure for belt-tightening at home where welfare benefits are being steadily whittled away by budget cuts.
The latest Maurice de Hond and Ipsos Synovate opinion polls showed the Liberal Party in the lead, while the Labour Party has made gains at the expense of the Socialists, largely reflecting the stronger performance of Rutte and the new leader of the Labour Party, Diederik Samsom, in televised election debates.
"Everyone was expecting Rutte and (Socialist leader) Roemer to clash in these debates. There were high expectations for Roemer and a lot of people were rather disappointed by him," Philip van Praag, a political analyst at the University of Amsterdam, told Reuters.
"They were also surprised by Samsom. He debated very well, he was performing like a prime minister."
Rutte's party would win 35 seats in the 150-seat parliament, the latest de Hond poll showed, up from 32 seats in a poll by the same agency on August 26, while the Socialist Party would win 29 seats, down from 35 seats.
Labour is in third place and closing the gap behind the Socialists in the de Hond poll.
The Ipsos Synovate poll also put the Liberals in the lead with 35 seats, up from 34 seats on August 31, followed by Labour with 30 seats, up from 26, and the Socialists in third place with 24 seats, down from 27.
The de Hond poll said the first televised debate of the election campaign, held on August 26, had turned out to be a "game changer", and cited "the strong performance of Samsom during this debate and in other debates".
Many disgruntled Labour supporters who had turned to the Socialist Party are now switching back to Labour because of Samsom, de Hond said, adding that voters now see Samson as Rutte's closest rival as prime minister, not Roemer.
Rutte's Liberal Party and its coalition partner, the Christian Democrats, have pushed for spending cuts to bring the Netherlands' budget deficit below 3 percent of economic output by 2013, in line with European rules.
The Socialists and Labour both oppose austerity measures and want more time to achieve the EU's deficit target, but Labour - unlike the Socialists - has supported the government in voting for euro zone bailouts.
At the other end of the political spectrum, Geert Wilders, leader of the anti-immigration Freedom Party, wants the Netherlands to quit the euro and the EU.
Whoever wins the most seats in the election will still need to form a coalition from three or four other parties, a process which could take months while Rutte's caretaker government runs the country.
According to data on the Dutch parliament's website, following previous elections it has taken anywhere between 10 days - after the 1958 election - to as long as 208 days after elections in 1977 to form a coalition.
The table below shows the number of seats in parliament won at the last election, and the equivalent based on recent polls.
(Editing by Alison Williams)
World
Euro Zone
Tweet this
Link this
Share this
Digg this
Email
Reprints
We welcome comments that advance the story through relevant opinion, anecdotes, links and data. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of Reuters. For more information on our comment policy, see http://blogs.reuters.com/fulldisclosure/2010/09/27/toward-a-more-thoughtful-conversation-on-stories/
Comments (0)
Be the first to comment on reuters.com.
Add yours using the box above.
Edition:
U.S.
Africa
Arabic
Argentina
Brazil
Canada
China
France
Germany
India
Italy
Japan
Latin America
Mexico
Russia
Spain
United Kingdom
Back to top
Reuters.com
Business
Markets
World
Politics
Technology
Opinion
Money
Pictures
Videos
Site Index
Legal
Bankruptcy Law
California Legal
New York Legal
Securities Law
Support & Contact
Support
Corrections
Connect with Reuters
Twitter
Facebook
LinkedIn
RSS
Podcast
Newsletters
Mobile
About
Privacy Policy
Terms of Use
AdChoices
Copyright
Our Flagship financial information platform incorporating Reuters Insider
An ultra-low latency infrastructure for electronic trading and data distribution
A connected approach to governance, risk and compliance
Our next generation legal research platform
Our global tax workstation
Thomsonreuters.com
About Thomson Reuters
Investor Relations
Careers
Contact Us
Thomson Reuters is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests.
NYSE and AMEX quotes delayed by at least 20 minutes. Nasdaq delayed by at least 15 minutes. For a complete list of exchanges and delays, please click here.