The Dutch electorate has been moody and volatile in recent years, under pressure from sharp debates on immigration, multiculturalism, the future of its economy and welfare state and its role in the European Union.
This week's general election, the third in four years, has been true to form. It has delivered another victory to outgoing prime minister Jan Peter Balkenende's Christian Democrats, who have 41 seats in the 150-seat parliament, down three on the last time. He will now have to find suitable coalition partners from a reduced Labour Party and the smaller Christian Union.
The great victors this time around are the left wing Socialists, led by the charismatic former welder Jan Marijnissen, whose seats tripled to 26. He stood on a programme calling for greatly increased expenditure on education, elderly and child care and public transport. The Socialists also want an amnesty for thousands of imprisoned asylum seekers and a relaxation of harsh integration legislation directed by the outgoing government against the country's 1.7 million immigrants from North Africa and Turkey, including a ban on the burka or face veil just before the election. The party benefited from their votes, as well as tapping into widespread dissatisfaction with the Labour Party's role. Its success shows there remains a reservoir of radicalism and tolerance for diversity in a society whose image was one of liberal distemper with failed integration policies over the last number of years.
Unlike Mr Marijnissen, Mr Balkenende has been described as a man in whom no trace of charisma can be detected. He sustains support for his stolidity, for staying the course and promising social stability. He has also pushed through welfare reforms and wage moderation that have stimulated the Dutch economy into recently unaccustomed growth. Coalition bargaining is likely to be prolonged, as is usual, and a weakened Labour Party may be unwilling to become involved without substantial concessions to retrieve its left flank.
Immigration issues did not dominate the campaign, which was mostly concerned with the economy, health and social welfare. Compared to them, 25 per cent of voters thought Muslim integration an important matter. But worries about this issue are an undercurrent in Dutch politics and society since the murders of Pim Fortuyn and Theo van Gogh. The outgoing government introduced stringent citizenship tests, detention centres for asylum seekers and forced repatriation programmes. This result shows greater unhappiness with them on the left than the right, notwithstanding that the far right anti-immigrant party also secured nine seats.