Wilders' party loses support

Friday 28 August 2009

Geert Wilders' anti-immigration PVV party would take 24 seats in the 150-seat parliament if there was a general election tomorrow, four down on last month, according to the latest Politieke Barometer opinion poll.

At the beginning of July, support for the PVV had reached an all-time high of 32, making it the most popular party in the country. It currently has nine seats in parliament.

The new poll says the Christian Democrats are now in the lead, with 37 seats. Coalition party Labour (PvdA) is up two seats at 24.

Meanwhile, research by Synovate for tv programme Nova shows that almost 40% of Wilders' supporters back the PVV because they have lost faith in the government and other political parties.

Jewish support

Just under 20% would vote for the party because of its stand on Islam, the research shows. Wilders wants the Koran to be banned and has called for an end to Muslim immigration.

One third of the party's supporters agree there are too many foreigners in the Netherlands, one-fifth think there should be more effort to cut crime and 16% would vote PVV because of Wilders himself.

Nova also reports that Wilders has considerable support among the Netherlands Jewish community. 'Wilders is one of the few politicians who actively works for Jewish affairs,' Jewish activist Benjamin Samkalden told the AD.

© DutchNews.nl

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