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| Dutch election: PM Rutte's party leads exit polls | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte's party has won the most seats in parliamentary elections, first exit polls say. | |
| His centre-right VVD Party won 31 out of 150 seats, polls suggest. | |
| His party came far ahead of the next three parties, including Geert Wilders' anti-immigration Freedom Party (PVV), the Christian Democrats and the D66 Party, which each got 19 seats. | |
| Mr Wilders' party had been leading in opinion polls but support for the party appeared to slip in recent days. | |
| Voter participation in the general election was high - and experts say the final turnout may reach 80%. | |
| Analysts say a high turnout may have benefited pro-EU and liberal parties. | |
| A campaign leader for Mr Rutte's party said the voters had given "trust again" to the VVD. | |
| Many had been watching the vote in the Netherlands closely, as an indication for how populist parties may fare in other elections in EU countries. | |
| France goes to the polls next month to elect a new president while Germany is due to hold a general election in September. | |
| As parliamentary seats are allocated in exact proportion to a party's vote share, the VVD party will need to go into coalition with other parties. | |
| The VVD will need at least three other parties before it can secure a majority. |