Wilders votes in Netherlands elections

(15 Mar 2017) Geert Wilders, the Party for Freedom leader cast his ballot on Wednesday morning in the Dutch parliamentary elections that are being closely watched as a possible indicator of the strength of far-right populism ahead of national votes in France and Germany later this year. Two-term Prime Minister Mark Rutte's right-wing VVD party was leading in polls ahead of the Dutch vote, with the anti-Islam Party for Freedom of firebrand lawmaker Geert Wilders a close second. The chance of Wilders becoming leader in this country where the proportional representation voting system all but guarantees coalition governments is small - all mainstream parties, including Rutte's VVD, have ruled out working with Wilders. Wilders' one-page election manifesto includes pledges to close borders to immigrants from Muslim nations, shuttering mosques and banning the Quran, as well as taking the Netherlands out of the European Union. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...