By IANS,
Amsterdam : The anti-Islam party founded by far-right politician Geert Wilders has more than doubled its seats in the Dutch parliamentary elections, becoming the country’s largest party.
With at least 96 percent of the votes counted Thursday, the Freedom Party (VVD) won 31 out of 150 seats, more than the centre-left Labour Party’s 30 seats.
The election – the fourth since 2002 – was called after the centrist coalition government, between the Christian Democrats and the Labour Party, collapsed in February.
Wilders said he now wanted to be part of a coalition government.
“We are the big winner and they cannot ignore us. We want to be taken seriously,” said Wilders, who faces a criminal trial later this year on charges of inciting hatred and discrimination with his anti-Islamic film “Fitna”.
As the party with the most seats, VVD leader Mark Rutte could now become the Netherlands’ first far-right prime minister since World War I.
Muslim have already voiced concern at the rise of the VVD.
“We respect this democratic outcome but throwing mud at a particular group does not contribute to a harmonious society,” Driss El Boujoufi of the Netherlands’ Moroccan Muslim organisation (UMMON) was quoted as saying by Dutch news agency ANP.
Wilders has campaigned to stop the “Islamisation of the Netherlands”.
He wants a ban imposed on the Koran and has proposed a tax on headscarves worn by Muslim women.
The Netherlands is the first country in the eurozone to vote since a crisis erupted earlier this year over the single European currency, amid concerns about debt in Greece.
Analysts said the fragile Dutch economy was the top election issue, although the VVD’s performance would suggest that Muslim immigration to the Netherlands was also an issue.
Support for the Christian Democrats fell substantially, leading to the immediate resignation of party leader and outgoing prime minister Jan Peter Balkenende.
Weeks of coalition negotiations are now expected to follow the election and final results will not be declared until 15 June, when all overseas votes have been counted.
Rutte has advocated steep budget cuts, government cuts and a reduction in benefits for immigrants.
The Dutch government fell when Labour withdrew from the coalition after refusing to send more Dutch troops to the NATO-led international force in Afghanistan.
Dutch troops are expected to leave Afghanistan by August.