The Netherlands: Right -Wing anti - Islam Geert Wilders gets 21.6 % of the vote in Almere and ends second in the Hague

Returns posted by the NOS state broadcaster showed Geert Wilders' Freedom Party winning in the town of Almere and coming in second in The Hague, the only two races it ran out of 394 cities and towns that elected local councils. If the outcome is any indication of the parliamentary vote in June, Wilders could emerge as a king-maker on the national stage. The Freedom Party, which Wilders founded four years ago, had not previously put up candidates in municipal elections.

"We're going to take the Netherlands back from the leftist elite that coddles criminals and supports Islamization," said Wilders, who campaigned in Almere for banning Muslim women from wearing headscarves in public.

Political analysts said the results indicated a deadlocked electorate. Unless voters swing in the next few months, no combination of parties is likely to be able to form a working majority in the next parliament. That result would leave Wilders in potent position to push his platform, possibly in exchange for a promise to support a minority Cabinet without actually joining it.

Wilders, 46, faces criminal charges for inciting hatred. He has denounced Islam as antidemocratic and compared the Quran with Hitler's manifesto "Mein Kampf." He has proposed imposing a tax on clothing commonly worn by Muslims, such as headscarves, because they "pollute" the nation.

EU-Digest