D66 wins here, VVD steamrolls its opponents in the Netherlands

GREAT BAY – With a turnout of 90.4 percent, the 167 eligible voters in St. Maarten showed a keen interest in the Dutch parliamentary elections yesterday. Of the 151 valid votes cast, the majority went to D66 (42; 36.5 percent) followed by the VVD with 31 (26.9 percent), GreenLeft (21; 13.9 percent) and, rather surprisingly, the PvdA with 18 (11.9 percent).

Most likely new cabinet: VVD-D66-CDA-PvdA

All other parties won fewer than ten votes: CDA 9, Socialist Party 7, PVV 6, Party for animals and Article 1 4, Christian Union 3, Forum for Democracy 2 and SGP, 50Plus, Geen Peil and Lokaal in de Kamer one each.

In the 2012 election, 122 votes were cast and the VVD won 44 of them, followed by D66 with 25, PvdA 24. Party for Animals, CDA and GreenLeft 7. The Socialist Party and the Christian Union got just 2 votes; the rest went to splinter parties.

The first exit poll in the Netherlands however showed that the result in St. Maarten does not mirror the national result. Around 4 p.m. local time, Ipsos released an exit poll, showing that the VVD would become the largest party with 31 seats, followed by CDA, D66 and PVV with 19 seats each. GreenLeft would win spectacularly compared to 2012 and end up with 16 seats, followed by the Socialist Party with 14. The PvdA was heading for a historic beating at the polls and drop from its current 38 seats to just 9.

Yet, this projection makes the likely makeup of the next cabinet one that includes the PvdA. The combination VVD-CDA-D66-PvdA would hold 78 seats, a slight majority in the 150-seat Second Chamber.

This is the projection from the definitive exit poll with between brackets the difference with the 2012 elections. VVD 31 (-10), D66 19 (+7), CDA 19 (+6), PVV 19 (+4), GreenLeft 16 (+12), Socialist Party 14 (-1), PvdA 9 (-29), Christian Union 6 (+1), Party for Animals 5 (+3), Denk 3 (+3), 50Plus 4 (+2), SGP 3 (-) and Forum for Democracy 2 (+2).

Around press time, when 28.5 percent of the votes were counted in the Netherlands, the numbers shifted slightly, but they left the VVD as the clear winner.

Based on the latest prognosis the VVD would win 32 seats, followed by the CDA (20), PVV (19), D66 (18), GreenLeft (14), Socialist Party (14), PvdA (10), Christian Union (6), Party for Animals (4), 50Plus (4), Denk (3), SGP (3) and Forum for Democracy (2).16.

Photo above caption: From left: Anoushka Devid, Robert Jan de Wilde and Dutch Representative Chris Johnson empty the steel container that contains the ballots. Photo Today / Hilbert Haar