Parliamentary elections in the Netherlands have resulted in a razor-sharp race between two major parties. With 96.5 percent of the votes counted, the pro-business Liberals, the VVD, held 31 out of 150 seats in parliament. Those results broke an hours-long tie the party had with the social democratic Labor party, which according to the latest count has 30 seats.The far-right Party for Freedom, led by anti-Islam activist Geert Wilders, increased its seats from nine to 24 to put it as the third-largest party. It had been expected to gain about nine seats, in an election where immigration issues have taken a backseat to concerns about budget deficits and austerity plans.
Wilders proclaimed his party, which wants to ban immigration from all Muslim countries and cut social spending, "the biggest winner today."
For more: Dutch election gives austerity-minded Liberals slim win | Europe | Deutsche Welle | 10.06.2010
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