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CNA
5 hours ago
- Business
- CNA
Dutch government collapses after far-right leader Wilders quits coalition
THE HAGUE: The Dutch government collapsed on Tuesday (Jun 3), most likely ushering in a snap election, after anti-Muslim politician Geert Wilders quit the right-wing coalition, accusing other parties of failing to back his tougher immigration policies. But Prime Minister Dick Schoof, an independent, accused the political maverick of irresponsibility, and the other coalition parties denied failing to support Wilders, saying they had been awaiting proposals from his PVV party's own migration minister. PVV ministers will quit the cabinet, leaving the others to continue as a caretaker administration until an election unlikely to be held before October. Frustration with migration and the high cost of living is boosting the far right and widening divisions in Europe, just as it needs unity to deal effectively with a hostile Russia and an unpredictable and combative US president in the form of Donald Trump. "I have told party leaders repeatedly in recent days that the collapse of the cabinet would be unnecessary and irresponsible," Schoof said after an emergency cabinet meeting triggered by Wilders' decision. "We are facing major challenges both nationally and internationally that require decisiveness from us," he added, before handing his resignation to King Willem-Alexander. The prospect of a new election is likely to delay a decision on boosting defence spending and means the Netherlands will have only a caretaker government when it hosts a summit of the transatlantic NATO alliance this month. ELECTION MAY BE MONTHS AWAY Wilders said he had had no option but to quit the coalition. "I proposed a plan to close the borders for asylum seekers, to send them away, to shut asylum shelters. I demanded coalition partners sign up to that, which they didn't. That left me no choice but to withdraw my support for this government," he told reporters. "I signed up for the strictest asylum policies, not for the demise of the Netherlands." He said he would lead the PVV into a new election and hoped to be the next prime minister. An election is now likely at the end of October or in November, said political scientist Joep van Lit at Radboud University in Nijmegen. Even then, the fractured political landscape means formation of a new government may take months. It remains to be seen whether right-wing voters will see the turn of events as Wilders' failure to turn his proposals into reality, or rather decide that he needs a bigger mandate to get his way, van Lit said. Simon Otjes, assistant professor in Dutch politics at Leiden University, said the PVV must have calculated that the next election would be seen as a referendum on immigration policy, "because they know they would win that". Amsterdam resident Michelle ten Berge hoped that "with the new election we will choose ... a government that's more moderate". But florist Ron van den Hoogenband, in The Hague, said he expected Wilders to emerge the winner and take control of parliament "so he can do like Trump is doing and other European countries where the extreme right is taking over". IMMIGRATION A DIVISIVE ISSUE Wilders won the last election in November 2023 with an unexpectedly high 23 percent of the vote. Opinion polls put his party at around 20 percent now, roughly on a par with the Labour/Green combination that is currently the second-largest grouping in parliament. Wilders had last week demanded immediate support for a 10-point plan that included closing the borders to asylum seekers, sending back refugees from Syria and shutting down asylum shelters. He also proposed expelling migrants convicted of serious crimes and boosting border controls. Migration has been a divisive issue in Dutch politics for years. The previous government, led by current NATO secretary general Mark Rutte, also collapsed after failing to reach a deal on restricting immigration. Wilders, a provocative politician who was convicted of discrimination against Moroccans in 2016, was not part of the latest government himself. He only managed to strike a coalition deal with three other conservative parties last year after agreeing not to become prime minister.
Bloomberg
7 hours ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
Dutch Prime Minister Gives Resignation, Takes Caretaker Role
By and Katharina Rosskopf Updated on Save Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof tendered his resignation and will continue in a caretaker role, setting the stage for a snap election. Far-right Geert Wilders pulled his Freedom Party out of the Dutch government earlier Tuesday over the refusal of his three coalition partners to agree to his plans to curb migration. His demands included closing the border to asylum seekers, temporarily halting family reunification and returning asylum seekers to Syria.
Sky News
7 hours ago
- Business
- Sky News
South Korea: Liberal opposition candidate poised to win presidential election
South Korea's main conservative candidate has conceded defeat in the country's snap election and congratulated liberal rival Lee Jae-myung who is set to become president. Kim Moon Soo, candidate of the People Power Party (PPP), said he "humbly accepts [the] people's choice" after projections showed Mr Lee was expected to win the election. Projections showed that with 70% of ballots counted, Mr Lee had won 48.53% of the vote. An exit poll from three of South Korea's broadcasters on Monday night also put the Democratic Party leader on 51.7% and Mr Kim on 39.3% Speaking at a news conference, Mr Lee said he would seek to unite the country and find a way to coexist with North Korea through communication and dialogue. It caps off a tumultuous six months for South Korea, with the country plunged into crisis after former president Yoon Suk Yeol briefly declared martial law on 3 December. 3:04 Troops had entered the National Assembly building as police and protesters clashed outside after he made the announcement, only for him to reverse the move six hours later. Mr Yoon was impeached later that month, and his dismissal was upheld in April after South Korea's constitutional court ruled the conservative leader "violated his duty as commander-in-chief by mobilising troops". 1:26 Mr Lee, a former human rights lawyer, had previously called the snap election "judgment day" against the martial law decision, and accused the PPP of condoning the attempt by not fighting harder to oust Mr Yoon. Park Chan-dae, acting leader of the Democratic Party, told South Korean broadcaster KBS that "I think people made a fiery judgment against the insurrection regime".
The Guardian
8 hours ago
- Business
- The Guardian
Liberal Lee Jae-myung elected South Korea's new president
South Korea held a snap election to choose a successor to Yoon Suk Yeol, who was impeached over his short-lived martial law declaration in December. The Democratic Party's (DP) candidate Lee Jae-myung was elected. The 61-year-old has promised political and economic reforms to help the country recover from the shock of December's brief martial law. He also faces several legal cases that could plunge his term into crisis before it has even begun
Al Jazeera
10 hours ago
- Business
- Al Jazeera
South Korea election results 2025 live: Lee Jae-myung projected to win
Exit polls show Lee Jae-myung of the opposition Democratic Party of Korea winning more than 50 percent of the vote in today's snap election while Kim Moon-soo of the governing conservative People Power Party trails behind with about 39 snap vote was called after former leader Yoon Suk-yeol was impeached and removed from office over his shock martial law counting is under way across the country, and the winner is expected to become clear when 70 percent of votes are counted, at about midnight local Koreans turned out in large numbers for the vote, with a turnout of 79.4 percent, the highest in a presidential election since 1997. Update: Date: 3m ago (14:40 GMT) Title: Lee's supporters gather outside his home Content: Hundreds of people have congregated outside Lee's home in the city of Incheon, near the capital, Seul, to celebrate his projected victory, according to the Yonhap news agency. The crowds are urging Lee to come out and address them. Lee is believed to be following the results at the residence, which has been cordoned off, Yonhap reported. Update: Date: 13m ago (14:30 GMT) Title: What challenges await South Korea's new president? Content: At the top of the issues is tariff negotiations with the United States. The next leader will have little time to negotiate with Washington before July 9, when President Donald Trump's 90-day pause on global tariffs expires, potentially exposing South Korean products to 25 percent tax rates. The new leader will also struggle to ease tensions with neighbouring North Korea and balance relations between the US, South Korea's most important security guarantor, and China, its biggest trade partner. On the domestic front, the new president will need to spur stalled economic growth and unify a nation that is deeply divided over Yoon's failed martial law bid. For months, millions of people have rallied for months to either support or denounce Yoon. Yoon's legal saga is also likely to overshadow the early months of Seoul's next government, as the former president continues to stand trial on high-stakes rebellion charges, which carry a possible sentence of death or life in prison. Update: Date: 23m ago (14:20 GMT) Title: Voters want to show 'democracy is not broken in South Korea' Content: Many Koreans say they wanted this election to be about getting democracy back on track. To show the world that democracy is not broken in South Korea, following the startling message that a few hours of martial law sent out back in December. In private, many people concede that democracy narrowly [withstood that test]. What if lawmakers had not climbed over the National Assembly fence and pushed their way through soldiers, some of whom pointed weapons at them, to hold a vote in the chamber to end martial law? What if then-President Yoon had not accepted [their vote]? And what if just one of those soldiers had fired a shot? Things could have turned out very differently. That is why Lee Jae-myung has said one of his top priorities will be changing the constitution to ensure it is much harder to enact martial law. There are many other big priorities for Korean voters – mostly regarding the economy. The uniting force behind so many swing voters and even conservatives who wouldn't normally vote for Lee to come out was not so much to support Lee but to punish the ruling party. Update: Date: 33m ago (14:10 GMT) Title: New Reform Party candidate concedes defeat Content: Lee Jun-seok, who is projected to finish third according to exit polls, has conceded defeat in today's vote. 'The exit polls suggest Lee Jae-myung will be elected as the president, and I expect him to make careful and accurate decisions on national unity and the economy,' the conservative politician said at the National Assembly in Seoul. Lee, who is 40, added that his New Reform Party will 'continue to fulfil its role as an opposition party' and that he had no regrets about refusing Kim's overtures to merge candidacies. 'Unification was never something we seriously considered,' he said. 'Judging by the results, the burden now facing the conservative bloc is to prioritise innovation over mere alliances.' Update: Date: 42m ago (14:00 GMT) Title: Lee leads in early vote count Content: Preliminary results are rolling in. According to the NEC, 23.83 percent of votes have been counted nationwide. Lee has won 47.81 percent of the ballots while Kim has 43.99 percent. Update: Date: 48m ago (13:55 GMT) Title: If you're just joining us Content: Let's bring you up to speed: Update: Date: 58m ago (13:45 GMT) Title: Tears as Lee's supporters celebrate projected win Content: We've been speaking to Lee's supporters in the Cheonggye Plaza in Seoul. Park Jung-hwan is here with his group who play traditional Korean instruments. He plans to play his traditional Korean drum after the vote results come in. 'In 2022, I cried because Yoon Suk-yeol won by the smallest margins and I knew that our country was headed into disaster. I was so worried about the future generation of our country that I couldn't go to work for a month,' said the physical therapist from Seoul's Geumcheon-gu district. 'But tonight, I cried as our country showed hope again.' Another supporter said she also cried when the exit poll came out Kim Jeong-hee, who flew all the way from her home in France on the day Yoon was impeached back in April, said she hoped for change in South Korea. 'Our country is known as a democracy, but recent events have showed how a few of the elite maintain unjustified power over the [masses],' she said. 'It's going to continue being the job of civilians like the crowd here tonight to protect our new president and our society while working for change.' Update: Date: 1h ago (13:35 GMT) Title: NEC expects 70 percent of vote to be counted by midnight Content: As we've reported, vote counting is now under way across South Korea. The National Election Commission expects 70-80 percent of the ballots to be tallied by midnight local time (15:00 GMT), likely offering a clear picture of the winner, according to the Yonhap news agency. Vote counting will continue into Wednesday morning. Update: Date: 1h ago (13:25 GMT) Title: People Power Party official calls projected loss 'very disappointing' Content: Na Kyung-won, co-chair of the conservative party's election campaign, has called the projected defeat 'somewhat shocking,' saying she had expected a much closer race. 'It is very disappointing that there is such a large difference,' she said in comments carried by the Yonhap news agency. Na blamed 'confusion within the party' for delays in the campaign and expressed frustration that 'negative news' about Lee Jae-myung had not reached the public early enough to affect the result. Update: Date: 1h ago (13:15 GMT) Title: Photos: Vote counting under way in Seoul Content:
