The unofficial results of the Dutch municipal elections are in. The Labor Party, fashioned after Tony Blair's New Labor, have recorded a resounding victory.
In 2001, an unknown politician, Pym Fortuyn, burst upon the Dutch political scene with a message that shook the foundations of Dutch politics: the major political parties are not responding to the problems that face the country -- particularly immigration.
With this message, Fortuyn sent a shock wave through Dutch politics. The Dutch Labor Party in particular, which at that time still adhered to policies that stretched back some 20 years, felt the tremors head on. The result: Labor lost the 2002 elections to a rightwing coaltion comprised of the center right Christian Democrats, the Fortuyn Immigration Party and the VVD (the Dutch equivalent of modern Republicans).
In the meantime, unfortunately, Pim Fortuyn was assassinated by a (presumably) leftwing fanatic.
The Netherlands spent the next four years imitating Bush, backing the war in Iraq, participating in the NATO contingency in Afghanistan and, generally, focusing on immigration as the main policy concern.
Needless to say, this policy has failed on almost all fronts. Dutch society has become less tolerant, less economically viable, less prosperpous and less independent under the current regime.
The municipal elections were held today, 7 March, to decide whether the Dutch voting public approved of these policies.
The answer was a resounding "no".
The big winner was the Dutch labor party, the social party and the greens. The losers were the current governing parties, the CDA (Christian Democrats), the VVD and D66.
The leader of the SP (Socialist Party) raised the most interesting question of the coming period. Would the victorious Labor Party, if its successes today were to be translated into successes in the 2008 national elections, seize this historic opportunity to form a leftwing government comprised of the Labor Party, the Socialist Party and the Greens -- or would it revert to type and compromise with the Christian Democrats or the VVD?
If the Dutch municipal elections are any indication, the future direction of politics in Europe is about to change.