Dutch voters went to the polls Wednesday for local elections viewed as a test of political loyalties and far-right leanings 10 days after the collapse of the center-left national government.

These would be "the most nationally-focused local elections ever," the leftist Volkskrant newspaper said as pollsters predicted a tough ride for the two biggest parties - the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) and the Labor Party (PvdA).

Rising tide

The toughest challenge came from Geert Wilders' far-right Party for Freedom (PVV) party, set up in 2006 to "stop the Islamization of the Netherlands." The PVV contested only two cities in its first municipal election, three months ahead of early general elections on June 9. The PVV holds nine seats in the 150-seat lower house of parliament.

"We're going to take the Netherlands back from the leftist elite that coddles criminals and supports Islamization," Freedom Party leader Geert Wilders said early Thursday.

Wilders' party came in second in the European elections of June last year, with 16.7 percent of the vote, behind the Christian Democrats of outgoing premier Jan Peter Balkenende.

According to the results from 96 of the 98 polling stations, the PVV finished substantially ahead of the PvdA in Almere, with 21.6 percent of the vote. The PvdA, winners of the previous elections in 2006, got 17.6 percent.

"What is possible in The Hague and Almere is possible all over the country. It's a springboard for our victory," Wilders told his supporters in Almere.

Gains in the heart of Holland

In The Hague, the country's political capital, the PVV came in second behind the PvdA, though complete results were not yet available.

Most polls had predicted the PVV would come in first in Almere, a city of 187,000 inhabitants east of the capital Amsterdam, and second or third in The Hague - the Netherlands' third largest city with 442,000 residents.

The results indicated that both the centrist parties were struggling ahead of national elections brought forward to June 9; the big winner being Wilders' PVV, now thought to be the country's most popular political party.

Some 12 million Dutch out of a total 16.5 million were registered to vote in 394 municipalities for nearly 9,000 councillors countrywide.

Capitalizing on broken coalition

PvdA leader Wouter Bos withdrew his party from the national government last month in a spat with Balkenende's CDA over extending the Dutch military mission in Afghanistan.

The CDA won 41 seats out of 150 in parliament in the previous round of national elections, the PvdA 33 and the PVV nine.

Wilders is awaiting trial for alleged hate speech against Muslims for having likened the Koran to Hitler's "Mein Kampf" and calling Islam a fascist religion.

In 2006 municipal elections, the PvdA came out on top with 23.45 percent of the vote nationally, ahead of the CDA which got 16.83 percent. Final results of this year's municipal elections will be released on Friday.

bk/APE/AFP
Editor: Rick Demarest