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Dutch to vote in tight election Close contest as Dutch cast votes
(about 2 hours later)
Dutch voters are preparing to the polls in tight elections that could lead to weeks of political manoeuvering before a new coalition takes office. Dutch voters are preparing to cast ballots in national elections, with late opinion polls showing as many as 40% of them undecided.
Opinion polls suggest Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende's Christian Democrats will emerge as the strongest party to lead the next cabinet. Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende's Christian Democrats are expected to emerge as the largest party.
But the opposition Labour Party has been narrowing the gap.But the opposition Labour Party has been narrowing the gap.
A significant number of voters seem even now to be undecided, meaning the election might throw up some surprises. Neither right nor left blocs are expected to win the 76 seats to secure a majority and talks to form a coalition could be protracted.
Some experts also point to the opposition Socialist Party's rise in the polls as evidence that people now believe a left-wing coalition could pose a real challenge to the centre-right coalition of the Christian Democrats (CDA) and liberals (VVD). Some experts say the Socialist Party's rise in the polls show a left-wing coalition could pose a real challenge to the centre-right coalition of the Christian Democrats (CDA) and liberals (VVD).
Neither right nor left blocs are expected to win the 76 seats to secure a majority in the 150-strong lower house of parliament. The CDA-led governing coalition collapsed in June after a row over its handling of the disputed citizenship of a Somali-born Dutch politician.
So there could be protracted negotiations to form a coalition cabinet, experts predict. Polling stations open at 0630 GMT and close at 2000 with unofficial exit poll results expected immediately and partial results an hour later.
Changing mood Immigration
In its election campaign, the CDA has been claiming credit for a strong economic recovery in the country the last few years, and appears to have been rewarded, the BBC's Sam Wilson in Amsterdam says. The BBC's Geraldine Coughlan in the Hague says in a live TV debate on the eve of the election the party leaders focused mainly on welfare reforms rather than immigration.
The Labour leader has not ruled out a grand coalition Labour leader Wouter Bos has not ruled out a grand coalition
This marks a remarkable political turnaround for the party that suffered a big defeat at the hands of the Labour Party in the March local elections, our correspondent says. The immigration issue had gripped Dutch politics since the high-profile murders of two prominent campaigners against Muslim extremism - independent politician Pim Fortuyn and film-maker Theo van Gogh.
Labour leader Wouter Bos hopes his party will be able to successfully challenge the CDA or at least force its way into a so-called grand coalition. However, polls suggest that many left-wing voters dissatisfied with the government's spending cuts seem ready to turn to the Socialist Party, rather than Labour, whom they believe sound too willing to jump into a coalition bed with the CDA, our correspondent adds. But integration has slipped on the voter's agenda, our correspondent says, despite the proposal last Friday by the government to ban face-covering clothing, including the burqa.
The CDA-led government coalition collapsed in June after a row over its handling of the disputed citizenship of a Somali-born Dutch politician. The main parties have both embraced pro-integration policies - a departure from the Dutch tradition of multiculturalism.
The immigration issue has gripped Dutch politics since the high-profile murders of two prominent campaigners against Muslim extremism - independent politician Pim Fortuyn and film-maker Theo van Gogh. Mr Balkenende has also been claiming credit for a strong economic recovery in the country in the past few years.
The main parties have embraced pro-integration policies - a departure from the Dutch tradition of multiculturalism. Labour leader Wouter Bos hopes his party will be able to successfully challenge the CDA or at least force its way into a so-called grand coalition.
However, the BBC's Sam Wilson in Amsterdam says polls suggest that many left-wing voters dissatisfied with the government's spending cuts seem ready to turn to the Socialist Party rather than Labour, whom they believe sound too willing to jump into a coalition bed with the CDA.
The latest projections give Mr Balkenende's CDA about 41 seats compared to about 38 for Labour.
But the uncertain voters could still make a big difference.
Some analysts think the Socialist Party could leap from nine seats to 23.