Local elections 2018: GroenLinks set to overtake D66 in Amsterdam

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Groenlinks is poised to overtake D66 to become the biggest party in Amsterdam, according to a poll of 875 Amsterdammers by OIS and featured in the Parool.

The new poll gives GroenLinks 19% of the vote – enough for nine seats on theĀ  45-seat strong city council – while forecasting D66 will fall from 27% to 16% and win eight.

Support for the PvdA, the biggest party in the city since WWII until 2014, is set to fall still further from 18% to 11%, or five seats, while backing for the Socialists could shrink by as much as one third to four seats, the new poll shows.

The SP is part of the current coalition together with D66 and the VVD but has come under fire for its ‘Amsterdam for the Amsterdammers’ slogan.

‘Will we be a city for big money, where an increasing number of international companies and expats come to earn lots of money in a short time? Or will we be a city for Amsterdammers…?’, the party says on its election leaflets and website.

If GroenLinks is the biggest party in the capital after the March 21 vote, local leader Rutger Groot Wassink will take the lead in forming a new coalition administration. He has already stated that he favours a left-leaning coalition.

More on the local elections in Amsterdam and other cities

However, even with the inclusion of the pro-animal PvdD, set to increase from one to three seats, the four left-leaning parties cannot muster enough seats for a majority. This means Groot Wassink will have to turn to D66 or the VVD.

On Saturday, GroenLinks, the PvdA and the SP published their join proposals for reforming the city’s housing market – with a focus on maintaining the number of rent-controlled properties.

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