荷蘭大選測試歐洲極右翼民粹主義

Dutch voters headed to the polls on Wednesday after Mark Rutte, prime minister, and rivals clashed over refugees, immigration and the economy in the last televised debate following an extraordinarily tight race.

荷蘭選民週三前往投票站進行了投票，此前荷蘭首相馬克?呂特(Mark Rutte)在一場異常激烈的競選接近終點之際與其他候選人在最後一場電視辯論中圍繞難民、移民和經濟問題展開激辯。

After a campaign that was interrupted by a diplomatic spat with Turkey, fears of foreign interference and a row about security for Geert Wilders, the rightwing populist, the vote is expected to be extremely close.

（據最新消息，荷蘭首相馬克?呂特的自由民主人民黨在出口民調中領先——編者按）

According to Ipsos turnout was on track to be significantly higher than in 2012, when almost 75 per cent of eligible voters cast their ballots. By 7.15pm local time, 69 per cent of people had voted, compared to 60 per cent at the same point five years ago. Ballot stations close at 9.00pm.

預計得票率將極爲接近。此次競選受到幾件事的打擾，包括與土耳其的外交爭執、對外國干預的擔憂，以及圍繞右翼民粹主義者海爾特?維爾德斯(Geert Wilders)的保安安排的爭吵。

Dutch broadcaster NOS reported that in some cities, including Amsterdam and The Hague, extra ballots had to be printed to cope with the high turnout.

益普索(Ipsos)表示，投票率將顯著高於2012年，當時近75%的合格選民進行了投票。截止當地時間晚上7點15分，69%的選民進行了投票，而5年前同一時刻的選民投票比例是60%。投票站在晚上9點關閉。

The vote is the first of what could be a series of landmark elections in Europe, with France choosing its next president within two months and Germany going to the polls in September. The elections are seen as a test of populist sentiment in Europe, coming on the heels of the UK’s Brexit vote and Donald Trump’s victory in the US.

荷蘭廣播機構NOS報道，在阿姆斯特丹和海牙等一些城市，由於投票率較高而不得不打印更多選票。

Voting on Wednesday Mr Rutte said the elections were an opportunity to show that what he called the “wrong sort of populism” could be stopped.

此次選舉是歐洲一系列可能具有里程碑意義的選舉的第一場，法國將在兩個月內選舉下任總統，而德國將在9月舉行大選。繼英國退歐公投和唐納德?特朗普(Donald Trump)在美國勝選之後，這些選舉被視爲對歐洲民粹主義情緒的測試。

“We have the upcoming French and German elections. And this is a chance for a big democracy like the Netherlands to make a point — to stop this toppling over of the domino[es],” Mr Rutte said at a school in The Hague.

呂特在週三投票時表示，選舉是一個機會，用來證明他所稱的“錯誤的民粹主義”可以被遏止。

But Mr Wilders said as he cast his vote that “the genie will not go back into the bottle” whatever the outcome. “Despite what the elite wants, politicians are getting strong who have a totally different concept of what the people want them to do,” he said.

呂特在海牙一所學校表示：“我們即將迎來法國和德國選舉。這是荷蘭等大型民主國家表明態度的機會——阻止這種多米諾骨牌坍塌。”

Mr Rutte’s centre-right People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) had a slim lead in most polls of 2 or 3 percentage points, leading most pollsters to caution that the result is too close to call. “I do not dare make big bets on the winner,” Tom Louwerse, a Dutch pollster told broadcaster NOS.

但維爾德斯在投票時表示，無論投票結果如何，“精靈不會回到瓶子裏”。他說：“與精英們的願望相反，那些對人民想要他們做什麼有着截然不同看法的政治人士正變得越來越強大。”