Far-right Dutch Politician Geert Wilders, previously dominating polls ahead of crowded field of political parties, has seen a continuing slide in support two weeks ahead of national elections.
In December Wilders' Freedom Party was riding high in the polls, a sharp increase in support coming during a trial which ultimately found the controversial politician guilty of hate speech against Moroccan immigrants.
But from those highs of 22%, support has now dropped to 15% .
The party has narrowly lost its frontrunner status to Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s centre-right People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy.
Rutte has made attempts to appeal to Wilder’s supporters, penning an in late-January urging immigrants to “act normal” or go away.
An for Dutch Broadcaster NOS last week showed 86% of voters were concerned about a decline in respect for Dutch values, with 81% registering concern over immigration and asylum seekers.
Healthcare also featured as a prominent issue, but relatively few voters said they were concerned about the economy.
Wilders' campaign has been rocked in recent days by revelations that a Moroccan member of his police security detail had been .
Dutch Prime Minister Rutte speaks during a Bloomberg Television interview during the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Jan. 19, 2017. Source: Getty Images
The strident politician lived under 24-hour police protection since 2006, when a radical Islamist murdered fellow Dutch Islam critic Theo van Gogh.
Wilders launched his campaign last week with a denouncement of “Moroccan scum who make the streets unsafe.”
With the vote to be held on March 15, political competition is intensifying.
Major parties are expected to see major losses.
Rutte’s centre-right party is projected to lose 16 seats and his coalition partner, the Labor party, faces an even bigger catastrophe – a projected fall from 35 seats to just 13.
More than 30 parties are running for the 150 seats in parliament, meaning a multi-party government of at least four or five parties is all but inevitable.
Support has been rising for minor parties including the Green Left, Christian Democratic Appeal and Democrats 66, while support for the 50 Plus, a party for senior citizens, has plummeted.
Rutte and Wilders will engage in a head-to-head TV debate days before the vote, with both pulling out of earlier debates which they said featured too many party leaders.
No front-runner alternative to Prime Minister Rutte or Geert Wilders has yet emerged.
With almost every party leader pledging to avoid any agreement with Wilders, protracted negotiations are expected.
Poll aggregator ‘’ projects that on current trends, Wilders is expected to net 25 seats with Rutte expected to net 24.
They’re followed by three left and centrist parties which are expected to net between 16 and 19 seats each. 75 seats are needed to form government.
The Netherlands is seen as an early bellwether in what’s been branded a ‘super-election year’.
Both France and Germany will hold elections later this year, with each seeing similar rises in anti-Immigrant and Euro-sceptic sentiment.
