Dutch elections: Rutte vs Wilders and the Erdogan-factor

The first Exit Polls are expected around 21:00′ local time

The political and diplomatic confrontation between the Netherlands and Turkey have left its mark on the Dutch voters. In the elections the current Prime Minister Mark Rutte is after a third term in office while the far-right Geert Wilders has been leading the majority of the polls so far.

The voting started without any problems and 12,9 million Dutch are keeping the rest of Europe on its tows waiting for the result.

A few hours before the elections, two polls were showing Wilders loosing momentum to Rutte as the latter confronted the Turkish President Erdogan quite effectively. The first poll showed Wilders third and the second, fifth!

As the polls have repeatedly failed in numerous elections (Brexit, Trump etc.) we will have to wait and see if any of this is true.

The Socialist Party has stated that they have no intention to collaborate with the Mark Rutte’s Center-Right Party. The other parties would consider it with the Greens playing the most important role in the post elections developments. What is cetrain though, is that no party is willing to help Geert Wilders form a government.