Netherlands: polls open for early elections

The Hague (Netherlands), 29 October (LaPresse/AP) – Polls have opened across the Netherlands for early elections, called after far-right MP Geert Wilders brought down the last coalition government over a dispute on immigration crackdowns. In The Hague, a steady stream of commuters stopped to vote at a polling station set up in the city’s central railway station, next to the Dutch parliament building. Polls predict a very close race, with Wilders’ Freedom Party slightly ahead of a group of more moderate parties, including the centre-left bloc of the Labour Party and the Green Left and the centre-right Christian Democrats. Polling stations will close at 9 p.m. and television stations will publish an initial exit poll, followed by an update half an hour later.