Dutch Elections

Eur/usd Breaks 1.07 On Yellen, Dutch Elections

... dollar had been under pressure throughout the morning as investors took profits ahead of today's key event.  Investors completely ignored the rate hike, focusing instead on the dot pot and Fed President Kashkari's dissent.  The decision to raise interest rates today was not unanimous as Kashkari preferred to leave rates steady this month.  Although the central bank upgraded its growth and inflation forecasts and lowered its unemployment estimate, on balance, Fed officials only see 2 more rate hikes this year.  To the disappointment of dollar bulls, the dot plot did not shift to 3 rounds of tightening after today's move and Janet Yellen was not hawkish enough to rescue the dollar.  While she talked positively about the labor market and business sentiment, she also felt that not much had changed since December.  She did not offer anything more than to say that 3 rate hikes qualifies as gradual and they expect policy to remain accommodative for some time.  The disappointment can be felt across the financial markets because aside from the fall in the dollar, 10 year Treasury yields dropped 10 bp and Fed Fund futures went from pricing in a ...

Attorney General Exodus, Merkel Comes To Washington, Dutch Elections

... questioned whether Bharara was sacked to prevent him from opening that can of worms. Another controversial decision by the Trump administration: Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will travel to Asia this week without a press corps. The administration claims it’s a cost saver, but media outlets pay for the trip. The absence of U. S. press on Tillerson’s trip to Japan, South Korea, and China could mean foreign media (in particular Chinese state media) will shape the narrative around the visit. It’s a busy week for U. S. diplomacy. German Chancellor Angela Merkel will visit Washington Tuesday to meet for the first time with Trump.  Their relationship got off to a rocky start when Trump personally blamed Merkel for ruining her country over Germany’s refugee policy when she beat him for Time person of the year in 2015. Trump’s chief trade advisor, Peter Navarro, didn’t exactly help repair the relationship when he accused Germany of currency manipulation. According to a White House briefing on the visit, the goal is to “build a positive ...

This Surprising Upset Could Upend The Dutch Election

... to welcome the Turkish Family Minister, Fatma Betul Sayan Kaya. The prospect of President Erdogan campaigning for the referendum in Europe is disquieting for European politicians, and many Northern European countries have banned these events. Reacting strongly, the Turkish president has called almost all of the Northern Europeans "Nazis." Pointing to the German, Dutch, Austrian and Danish bans on Turkish ministers attending rallies in Turkish expat communities, he referred to "a new Nazism tendency.". German politicians reacted with anger. German Justice Minister Heiko Maas told broadcaster ARD that Erdogan's comments were "absurd, disgraceful and outlandish" and designed to provoke a reaction from Berlin. Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman said that the German government "strongly rejected" the equation of modern Germany with Nazi Germany, adding that such comparisons minimized the crimes of the Nazis. Steffen Seibert, head of the German governmental press and information agency, noted that Turkish officials had a right to the same freedom of speech ...

Dutch Prime Minister Claims Victory Over Anti-muslim Candidate Geert Wilders

... to continue his fight, saying that his fierce message had resonated with Dutch voters and that he would prevail as the victor of the next elections. “We’ll have to wait for the next time to make this happen,” Wilders told reporters early Thursday. “I guarantee you, this patriotic spring will start. It has already started.”. Despite the worse-than-expected result, Wilders was still on track to gain seats, reconfirming his role as a sharp and persistent thorn in the side of the nation’s mainstream leaders. Outside Dutch borders, many leaders offered sighs of reliefat the dike that voters may have erected against populist tides. “Congratulations to the Dutch for stopping the rise of the extreme right,” wrote French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault on Twitter. “Willingness to work for a stronger Europe.” His nation faces the first round of a presidential election on April 23. There, National Front leader ...

Steep Rise In Turnout As Dutch Vote In Divisive Elections

... one of the closest parliamentary votes in memory, with five parties vying for the top spots. A win for the outspoken anti-Islam anti-EU Geert Wilders, leader of PVV (Partij Voor Vrijheid) could send shockwaves through Europe. “It will be a very interesting day, a lot is at stake in Holland and I hope of course we’ll win but whether we win or lose I think we put our mark on the elections so far. But it’s a sunny day, I hope a lot of people go and vote, it’s the most important think for democracy and I hope my party does well but we have to wait and see,” Wilders said. The vote is widely viewed as the first test of anti-establishment sentiment in Europe after the Brexit vote and Donald Trump’s election. Something which the Dutch prime minister from the liberal VVD party is keenly aware of. He told reporters. “This is a chance for a big democracy like the Netherlands to make a point to stop this toppling over of the domino stones of the wrong sort of populism and there is still a risk that we wake up on Thursday morning and seeing that Geert Wilders is leading the biggest party.”. ...

Rutte Vs. Wilders Puts Dutch Elections In A Stark Light

... elections in a stark light. By: MIKE CORDER and RAF CASERT, Associated Press. March 14, 2017 Updated: March 14, 2017 at 6:20 pm. Right-wing populist leader Geert Wilders and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, right, leave the stage after a national televised debate, the first head-to-head meeting of the two political party leaders since the start of the election campaign, at Erasmus University in Rotterdam, Netherlands, Monday, March 13, 2017. (Yves Herman POOL via AP). THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Amid unprecedented international attention, the Dutch go to the polls Wednesday in a parliamentary election that is seen as a bellwether for the future of populism in a year of crucial votes in Europe. With the anti-Islam, far-right lawmaker Geert Wilders running just behind two-term right-wing Prime Minister Mark Rutte in polls, the Dutch vote could give an indication of whether the tide of populism that swept Britain toward the European Union exit door and Donald Trump into the White house has peaked. The election in the Netherlands comes ahead of polls in France and Germany over the next half year, when right-wing nationalists will also be key players. During a final ...

Fake News Or Hacking Absent In Dutch Election Campaign

... can be an interesting business model. By contrast, the Dutch population of 17 million, who converse in a much less widely spoken language, may just be too niche. Alternative facts. Another trend was however present during the campaign - the use of the alternative facts. Several MPs during the election campaign gave statements discrediting official government sources, or claiming things without adequate proof. The 50 PLUS party for example, which says it defends the interests of the elderly , questioned life expectancy figures coming from the Dutch national bureau of statistics. The Denk party, which seems to attract mostly voters from immigrant backgrounds, claimed that “some” Dutch doctors discriminate. Denk MP Tunahan Kuzu said that he had seen “signals” that some doctors would “pull the plug” (as in: let them die) on patients with an immigration ...

Dutch Election Outlook Buoys Euro; Dollar Struggles At 1-month Low

... and German government bonds tighten today.”. The dollar index against a basket of major currencies was down 0.2 per cent at 100.560. It slid more than 1 per cent the previous day to touch 100.490, its lowest since February 17. The greenback took a knock after the Fed ended its two-day policy meeting on Wednesday by increasing interest rates as expected but stuck to projections of three total rate hikes in 2017. Some traders had begin to suspect it would raise rates four times this year as the economy builds up steam. US Treasury yields fell sharply in reaction to the Fed's rate view for the rest of the year, prompting the dollar to fall more than 1 per cent against the yen. The dollar, which went as high as 115.195 yen earlier this week, last stood at 113.420. “Speculation of four rate hikes this year may have been excessive. The dot plot was left mostly unchanged, shaking out ...

Where Are The Battlegrounds In The Dutch Election

... with 19.5 percent for Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s Liberals. The Freedom Party took just 6 percent. D 66 took 15 percent last time but they won both the local and provincial votes in 2014 and 2015. Wilders Victory in Rotterdam. As in Amsterdam, Labor has lost its dominance in the Netherlands’ second city. It took 32 percent in 2012, ahead of the Liberals on 20.5 percent, but the 2015 provincial elections saw the Freedom Party topping the poll, ahead of D 66. Europe’s biggest port has a history of backing maverick politicians; it’s where Pim Fortuyn rose to prominence before he was murdered in 2002. Liberals Winning Here. If you’re looking for a typical place where Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s Liberal Party rules the roost, it could be Wassenaar, nestled between The Hague and Leiden in South Holland and one of the richest towns in the entire country. More than 52 percent voted Liberal in 2012. In the Hague itself, the seat of the Dutch parliament and government, ...

Give It Back’ Netherlands Mp Orders Queen Maxima To Give Up Her Argentine Passport

... just one passport and that means the queen as well. Sybrand Buma. “Dual nationality makes it difficult for people to integrate into Dutch society. “If you want Dutch nationality… you are making a considered choice. It is more than a piece of paper. It is a choice which joins you to a country.”. His outburst come as immigration takes centre-stage during today’s election with nationalist Geert Wilders and Prime Minister Mark Rutte dominating the issue. Mr Buma has gained ground by adopting a tough line similar to Mr Rutte's on immigration, adding a focus on communal values and a touch of nationalism to tap voter concerns about Dutch identity. He has also proposed introducing singing the national anthem in schools and mandatory community service. The Royal House is yet to comment on the matter, which coincided with the announcement of a state visit by the President of Argentina later this month. Argentina and the Netherlands work closely together with the European nation a principal ...

Dutch Election’s Big Winner Proves To Be Greenleft

... on Facebook. His TV debates were also widely regarded as triumphs. In one debate watched by 1.6 million viewers, Klaver told his far-right, anti-Islam rival Geert Wilders that it was rightwing populism, not Muslim immigration, that was undermining Dutch culture and traditions. Dutch general election: a finger in the wind, not a litmus test. Read more. “The values the Netherlands stands for – for many, many decades, centuries actually – its freedom, its tolerance, its empathy … [the populists] are destroying it,” he said during one campaign interview. “It’s terrible when people are born in the Netherlands have the feeling they are not part of this society and it is not something to be proud of, but something to be ashamed of. And I want to change that.”. Green Left was not the only non-mainstream party to prosper in an election that featured a record 28 parties. Also faring well were: the Party for the Animals, which is forecast to have five MPs in the ...

White Innocence And The Dutch Elections

... down and come out the other end as an African?”. Often it is not the offending phenomenon itself but its defense that proves most revealing. Intent is claimed to be the sole measure of racism and, conveniently, intent is in the eye of the doer. In 2015, Dutch media professionals ( overwhelmingly white ) saw fit to print the n-word in the headline of a review of Ta-Nehisi Coates’s Between the World and Me and two other books. When The Washington Post’s Karen Attiah published a critical story , the NRC Handelsblad, a prestigious major daily, expressed muted regret about the headline’s effect on English-speaking readers but insisted nonetheless that the intended Dutch audience would not have been offended. Since the Netherlands fashioned itself as a progressive gidsland or “guide country” after the 1960 s, with Amsterdam championed as “the world’s most liberal city,” racism is declared to be a distant relic of the past, or confined to such backwaters as the United States. Most Popular. Trump’s Childcare Plan Will Only Help the Rich. “Race is done ...