A
AALARD
Guest
Elections see anti-Islamic party growth
AMSTERDAM, Netherlands, (UPI) -- The Dutch anti-Islam Freedom Party gained strength during the country's elections, but observers said whether it would be part of a coalition was unclear.
Wednesday's national election saw the center-right Liberal Party emerge as the largest party, claiming 31 of the 150 seats with 96 percent of the votes tallied, one seat ahead of the center-left Labor Party, the BBC reported.
The Christian Democrat party of outgoing Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende took the biggest hit, losing 21 of its 40 seats.
The Freedom Party increased its number of seats from nine to 24, returns indicated. Party leader Geert Wilders goes to trial later this year on charges of inciting hatred and discrimination with his anti-Islamic film "Fitna."
Wilders campaigned to stop the "Islamization of the Netherlands," saying he wanted to ban the Koran and suggested headscarves worn by Muslim women be taxed, the BBC said.
As the party with the most seats, Liberal Party leader Mark Rutte could become the first prime minister from his political camp since World War I, the British broadcaster said. To help right the country's ailing economy, Rutte advocated deep budget cuts, a trimmed-down government and a reduction in benefits for immigrants.
AMSTERDAM, Netherlands, (UPI) -- The Dutch anti-Islam Freedom Party gained strength during the country's elections, but observers said whether it would be part of a coalition was unclear.
Wednesday's national election saw the center-right Liberal Party emerge as the largest party, claiming 31 of the 150 seats with 96 percent of the votes tallied, one seat ahead of the center-left Labor Party, the BBC reported.
The Christian Democrat party of outgoing Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende took the biggest hit, losing 21 of its 40 seats.
The Freedom Party increased its number of seats from nine to 24, returns indicated. Party leader Geert Wilders goes to trial later this year on charges of inciting hatred and discrimination with his anti-Islamic film "Fitna."
Wilders campaigned to stop the "Islamization of the Netherlands," saying he wanted to ban the Koran and suggested headscarves worn by Muslim women be taxed, the BBC said.
As the party with the most seats, Liberal Party leader Mark Rutte could become the first prime minister from his political camp since World War I, the British broadcaster said. To help right the country's ailing economy, Rutte advocated deep budget cuts, a trimmed-down government and a reduction in benefits for immigrants.