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   From: noone@nowhere.com   
      
   Centre-left shift in Dutch election deals blow to populism   
    Paul Waldie - EUROPEAN CORRESPONDENT   
      
   THE HAGUE   
      
   Voters in the Netherlands have delivered a major boost to the   
   European Union, turning away from firebrand populism and   
   electing a decidedly pro-European parliament.   
      
   After weeks of bitter campaigning, Wednesday’s election   
   delivered a blow to Geert Wilders’s anti-immigration Freedom   
   Party and major gains for the Green Left, a pro-EU party led by   
   a charismatic 30-year-old with Moroccan heritage.   
      
   The clear shift toward a more centre-left Netherlands   
   government that embraces immigration and Europe will be a sigh   
   of relief for many across the EU. And it bodes well for   
   candidates in France and Germany who share similar beliefs and   
   are leading in public-opinion polls in the run-up to elections   
   in those countries.   
      
   Mr. Wilders had been trying to capitalize on the same forces   
   that led to Brexit and the election of Donald Trump. He’d been   
   leading the polls for months, calling Moroccans scum and vowing   
   to close mosques, ban the Koran and pull the Netherlands out of   
   the EU.   
      
   There had been fears across the EU that he would win the most   
   seats on Wednesday, causing political turmoil in the   
   Netherlands and bolstering the cause of far-right parties in   
   France and Germany. In a sign of how intense the campaign had   
   become, more than 84 per cent of voters turned out, a stunning   
   figure even for the Netherlands where voter turnout is   
   routinely well above 70 per cent.   
      
   But Mr. Wilders’s message failed to gain much traction and the   
   Freedom Party was expected to end up tied with the Christian   
   Democrats and D66, both pro-European parties, with 19 seats in   
   the 150-seat legislature. And Green Left was only slightly   
   behind at 16 seats. However, all four were running well behind   
   the Liberals, who were on track to top the seat count at 31,   
   according to exit polls and early results.   
      
   Together D66 and Green Left will now have the largest block of   
   seats in parliament and both parties are expected to be part of   
   a coalition government with the Liberals, led by Mark Rutte,   
   the Prime Minister in the outgoing government.   
      
   Mr. Rutte said voters had opted not to take any risks on   
   someone such as Mr. Wilders. “It is also an evening in which   
   the Netherlands, after Brexit, after the U.S. elections, said   
   stop to the wrong kind of populism,” he said, amid a crowd of   
   well-wishers who gathered at a hotel in The Hague Wednesday   
   night to celebrate the results.   
      
   “I think this is very good news for Europe,” added Jeanine   
   Hennis-Plasschaert, a Liberal member of parliament who is the   
   country’s Defence Minister in the outgoing government. “All of   
   us have been witnessing Brexit and also Trump. … So I am   
   convinced that Germany, France and all the others with   
   elections coming up will be able to act accordingly.”   
      
   Mr. Wilders, who lives in seclusion because of death threats,   
   fired off a tweet saying: “We won seats! We’ve passed the first   
   hurdle! Rutte is not rid of me yet!”   
      
   And indeed there are still plenty of worries for EU leaders.   
   Mr. Wilders’s party did win four more seats, not as many as had   
   been predicted only a few months ago but an indication that he   
   remains a powerful figure in the country with a core base of   
   support.   
      
   And the two big establishment parties – the Liberals and the   
   Labour Party – suffered drops in support. The Liberals lost   
   nearly 10 seats while Labour went down by close to 30. Analysts   
   said both parties, which had governed in a coalition since   
   2012, had been punished for a series of austerity measures   
   introduced after the financial crisis that hit in 2008.   
      
   Instead, voters turned to a wide selection of other parties,   
   particularly the Green Left. Led by Jesse Klaver, the Greens   
   were heading toward quadrupling their seat total to 16, the   
   biggest gain of any of the 28 parties contesting the election.   
      
   Mr. Klaver, whose father is from Morocco and mother is of   
   Dutch-Indonesian heritage, had been cast as the counterweight   
   to Mr. Wilders by strongly supporting the EU and immigration.   
   Mr. Klaver is often compared to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau   
   but his politics are much closer to Democrat Bernie Sanders,   
   whom he considers a kind of mentor.   
      
   In a brief interview this week, Mr. Klaver called Mr. Wilders   
   dangerous. “I think we have to make sure that we beat all the   
   populists. Not only here in the Netherlands but all over   
   Europe,” he said. I think it’s time for a new period here in   
   Europe. And the populists for too many years they were too   
   powerful and I think let’s quit with it.”   
      
   He and others pointed to the impact of Mr. Trump, suggesting   
   the U.S. President’s election and early days in office had   
   turned off voters and hurt Mr. Wilders, who had aligned himself   
   with Mr. Trump’s message.   
      
   Mr. Rutte also received a boost from a recent diplomatic row   
   with Turkey over the Netherlands’ decision to stop two Turkish   
   cabinet ministers from addressing a rally in Rotterdam for   
   Turks planning to vote in a referendum in that country on   
   constitutional changes. Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan   
   has called the Netherland’s actions “Nazi like” and hit back   
   with diplomatic sanctions. Mr. Rutte won support for appearing   
   decisive and standing up to Turkey.   
      
   Mr. Rutte also benefited from the growing strength of the Dutch   
   economy. Unemployment is at a five-year low and the country’s   
   economy is forecast to grow by about 2 per cent this year. Over   
   all, the euro-zone economies have been turning around in recent   
   months, with unemployment falling and growth ticking up in most   
   of the 28 countries. That could also help lift pro-EU   
   candidates in France and Germany, such as En Marche! leader   
   Emmanuel Macron and German Socialist Martin Schulz who have   
   been leading in some opinion polls in their respective races.   
      
   “I am relieved, but we need to continue to fight for an open   
   and free Europe,” Mr. Schulz said Wednesday after the Dutch   
   results began to come out.   
      
   Judith Tesser was relieved too. She campaigned for the Liberals   
   and smiled broadly as the exit polls showed her party led the   
   seat total and was heading back into power.   
      
   “People trust the things we do and they believe in our way of   
   working,” she said, amid cheers and boisterous music at the   
   downtown hotel. And she dismissed Mr. Wilders, saying he is all   
   talk and no action.   
      
   “Our people here, we are really very tolerant,” she said   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
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