Wouter Bos (left) and Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende (right)
For those who are interested in the Dutch elections: we’re on fire here as well. Our elections are not just for a couple of seats, but for all seats and about our entire government coalition. Our current coalition is one between the CDA and the VVD (my party).
The polls show that the race between the largest opposition party PvdA (42 seats now) and the CDA, is too close to call. Of course the debates between the leaders of the different parties have the potential to make a big difference.
RTL 4 organized a very limited debate: strictly between the leader of the PvdA and the leader of the CDA (Wouter Bos and current PM Jan Peter Balkenende).
The results? Again extremely close. 50% of the viewers is of the opinion that Bos won, 46% says that, in their eyes, Balkenende was the (undisputed) winner.
However, something quite important: 19% of those who planned to vote for our Socialist Party (SP) before this debate now say that they plan on voting for the PvdA. That is an important development. Too bad for the SP of course, but incredibly good news for the PvdA: it has to get its voters from the left.
In the end, it seems very likely that the PvdA and CDA will form our new coalition. This means that our country will go backwards the coming years, but if that’s what the voters want, sadly so be it.
The VVD and CDA worked for years on trying to modernize our country and our economy. It is finally beginning to pay off (although there is still a lot of work left) and now the PvdA will most likely come in and destroy every progress made.
PAST CONTRIBUTOR.