Dutch general election - September 2012

[Insula Dei]

Also, SGP +2? Wtf.

Their all-time best isn't it? Only in this election.

It would be, yes. Incredibly enough, the SGP has had either 2 seats or 3 seats since ... wait for it ... 1925.

Their voters breed enough to overcome the problem of people leaving the flock, no?

[Insula Dei]

About GL: This forum would say they found it necessay to prove themselves a 'very serious party'. They basically helped VVD and CDA to pass a lot of stuff Wilders didn't allow them to pass.

[Insula Dei]

Also, lol at the tense faces with the VVD after the NOS man said that their margin over the PvdA is shrinking.

[Insula Dei]

NOS-guy just more or less 'called' it for the VVD.

Why do you always have to disappoint, Netherlands?

[Insula Dei]

Labour grandee Felix Rottenberg just told NOS News that a government coalition between PvdA, SP, CDA and D66 is "a really interesting alternative" with "a clear majority".

He warned that the PvdA and VVD are far apart on some crucial questions (eg health care) and he provocatively warned the victorious VVD for the fate which PvdA leader Joop den Uyl suffered: winning the election with an unparalelled score, going into coalition negotiations with too strident demands, and after six months of fighting negotiations, seeing the other main parties quickly make an agreement behind his back.

Is he just playing theatre, trying to soften up the VVD in advance of the negotiations? Is such an alternative coalition really feasible after all, if the VVD and PvdA really can't solve things? Or is Rottenberg just purely talking for himself, since he's more or less retired?

FWIW, that's the impression I got.

[Insula Dei]

Btw, Nimh, I do hope you'll stick around on this forum after today.

[Insula Dei]

It's also a perfectly logical outcome from a democratic point of view and the two parties have worked together in the past.

^^^^^^^

Any other coalition would have been problematic.

I'd congratulate the Netherlands, but considering they're still stuck with the Dark Lord,...