Poll: The PVV Gains Another Three Seats

The latest polls show that Geert Wilders’ party, the PVV, has forged even further ahead of the other political parties in the Netherlands. The leftist dissenters within the CDA (Christian Democrats) have done nothing to improve their party’s standing; it remains at an all-time low.

If the election were held today, the PVV would hold almost a quarter of the seats in parliament. Matters seem abundantly clear, and yet the parties are unable to form a government, thanks to the cordon sanitaire around Geert Wilders.

According to NIS News:

Poll: PVV Now Biggest Party by a Long Way

THE HAGUE, 07/09/10 — In the latest poll by Maurice de Hond, the Party for Freedom (PVV) has won three seats. The party of Geert Wilders has become the biggest by some way.

The PVV would have risen to 34 seats from 31 if elections were held last week. This puts it nine seats ahead of both the conservatives (VVD) and Labour (PvdA) who would be neck-and-neck with 25 seats each. For the VVD, this is a drop of three seats from the previous week.

The Christian democrats (CDA) are at the same — historically low — level of last week: 15 seats. The CDA currently has 21 seats in the Lower House, already a huge drop from 41 before the 9 June elections. The VVD was the biggest party on 9 June with 31 seats, followed by PvdA with 30 and PVV with 24.

De Hond carried out his poll on Friday last week, after the row within the CDA party, and on Saturday, when the PVV pulled out of the formation talks with CDA and VVD. On both days, he surveyed over 2,000 people via the Internet.

- - - - - - - - -

Nearly half of the respondents (47 percent) said on Saturday they found it a pity that the formation talks between VVD, PVV and CDA had collapsed. This included around 90 percent among PVV and VVD voters and 66 percent among CDA voters. Among voters on the left, the proportions taking this view were below 10 percent except in the case of the Socialist Party (SP), 14 percent of whose voters regretted that the right-wing cabinet talks had flopped.

PVV and VVD voters lay the responsibility for the breakup of the formation of a rightwing minority cabinet firmly at the doorstep of CDA dissident Ab Klink. Among CDA voters, half name Klink and the other half, Wilders. Voters on the leftwing side consider the blame lies mainly with Wilders.

Among all respondents, 53 percent would consider it a good idea now for VVD leader Mark Rutte to be allowed to write a draft coalition accord by himself, while 36 percent do not consider this the right approach. Thirty-nine percent of respondents consider that Rutte should write an accord with PvdA leader Job Cohen while 55 percent are against this.

Hat tip: TB.