Dutch voters back new cabinet but shifting left

A majority of Dutch voters hope that the cabinet formation talks starting on Monday will lead to a new right-leaning government, even as public support continues to shift to the left, a poll showed.
The Maurice de Hond poll released on Sunday found 52% of voters hope the Liberals and the Christian Democrats will reach a deal to form a minority government, with parliamentary support from the anti-Islamic Freedom Party.
Those three parties will begin talks on Monday, two months to the day after parliamentary elections. Since then a number of negotiations to form different cabinets have failed, but the new talks are the most serious yet.
The potentially right-leaning cabinet would take strong austerity measures, with up to 18 bln euros in budget cuts.
It also likely would defer to the Freedom Party and its iconic leader Geert Wilders on issues related to immigration and Islam in society.
With Wilders's support the government could count on 76 votes in the 150-seat parliament, a razor-thin majority that has raised questions about how long the new government would last. A recent poll found 60% of voters expected a new parliamentary election within two years.
The De Hond poll found Wilders would win that new election, taking 31 seats, a gain of seven from the June poll. The Liberals would lose five seats to come second and the Christian Democrats would lose three to come in fourth place.
But aside from Wilders, the biggest gains would be in the center and on the left. De Hond found the Socialists would add three seats, while the social-liberal D66 and the Green Left would add two each.
Surveyed voters said Socialist leader Emile Roemer would be the most effective leader of the opposition to the potential new government in parliament.
Roemer, a former schoolteacher, took over the Socialists in March after they made huge losses in municipal elections. He surprised the nation with a strong debating style that helped limit his party's losses in the June poll.