THE NETHERLANDS: The ruling right-wing Christian Democrat Party in the Netherlands was poised last night for a one-seat victory over the opposition Labour Party, ending the stormy reign of the late Mr Pim Fortuyn's political heirs.
In the country's second general election in eight months, Dutch voters looked set to draw a line under an unprecedented period of political turmoil and send the strife-riven movement of murdered maverick Mr Fortuyn back to near-oblivion.
Last-minute opinion polls gave his anti-immigration party, the Lijst Pim Fortuyn (LPF), just six seats in the country's 150-seat lower house, down from a shock 26 seats, or 17 per cent of the vote, last May.
An exit poll released just after voting ended yesterday showed the Christian Democrats (CDA) were on course to beat a resurgent Labour Party, which had earlier been forecast to win outright.
This year's election has been characterised by volatility, and analysts say there were an unusually large number of floating voters, a factor which may see victory going instead to the Christian Democrats' rivals.
But the effective annihilation of the Lijst Pim Fortuyn (LPF) is not in doubt.
"Discipline within the LPF has been appalling," Mr Erik Jones, a specialist in Dutch politics at the Johns Hopkins Bologna centre, said yesterday. "I'm staggered that they have even survived this long.
"This is probably the end of the LPF - but not of the impact Pim Fortuyn has had on Dutch politics." It was feuding within the LPF which last October triggered the collapse of the government, made up of the CDA, the VVD Liberals, and the LPF. Now the electorate seems to have lost patience with the anti-immigration party.
By contrast, the Labour party (PvdA) has enjoyed a surprise renaissance, thanks to a telegenic new leader, Mr Wouter Bos (39), whose charisma and style have invited flattering comparisons to John F. Kennedy.
Yesterday's election could not have been more finely balanced. Labour may yet emerge to lead a "grand coalition" with their bitter rivals the CDA, but that was far from certain last night.
First projections gave Labour an impressive 42 seats, up from a disastrous 23, while the CDA, led by Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende, was seen retaining its 43 seats.
- (The Guardian)