Dutch anti-immigration populist surge stuns PM Rutte

THE HAGUE: Dutch anti-immigration populists stunned Prime Minister Mark Rutte to become the joint biggest party in the senate on Thursday following elections that took place just days after a suspected terror attack.

Thierry Baudet’s Forum for Democracy party, which also backs a "Nexit" from the European Union, came from nowhere to win most votes in the provincial elections, with 93 percent of ballots counted, the NOS broadcaster said.

The result will ring alarm bells across Europe where populists are expected to make big gains in European Parliament elections in May.

Self-proclaimed intellectual Baudet, 36, who has a history of controversial comments about women and immigration and backs closer relations with Russia, accused Rutte of "arrogance and stupidity" and of ignoring voters.

"We stand here in the rubble of what was once the most beautiful civilisation," he told a cheering crowd at a victory celebration late Wednesday in a speech laced with classical references.

The party, which only launched two years ago, will now be the largest in the upper house of parliament along with Rutte’s with 12 seats each, the Dutch news agency ANP said.

Dutch newspapers reacted with astonishment to the results. Algemeen Dagblad said "Baudet grabs mega-win" while De Telegraaf said simply: "Landslide".

Rutte, an influential figure in Europe’s negotiations with Britain over its own departure from the EU, will now have to rely on other parties to get laws through the senate after his ruling coalition took a battering.

Baudet also made references to the shooting on a tram in the city of Utrecht on Monday in which three people died. A Turkish-born man has been arrested over the attack.

The populist faced criticism after failing to stop campaigning following the shooting.

"We are being destroyed by the people who are supposed to be protecting us," the telegenic 36-year-old told a crowd that chanted his name on Wednesday night.