Dutch favoring the Liberals

By Zhang Wen in The Hague

The Dutch take to the polls today, and the Liberals - the Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) - are already pulling ahead in opinion polls.

The latest preliminary standings published by the research company Synovate expect 36 seats out of 150 in the Dutch Lower House of Parliament to go to the VVD, which currently holds 21 seats.

The Dutch Labor Party (PvdA) appears second in the polls with an expected 29 seats, the Christian Democrats (CDA) are third with 24, followed by Geert Wilders' PVV.

But despite the VVD's lead, a TNS Nipo poll for Nos TV shows Labour leader Job Cohen is still the most popular choice for prime minister, with 32 percent support.

VVD leader Mark Rutte reportedly had support of just 25 percent of voters.

With the war in Afghanistan remaining off the agenda of major debates, the economy has dominated the election campaign, according to the Netherlands Bureau of Economic Policy Analysis (CBP).

The two Liberal parties, VVD and D66, and the left-wing greens, GroenLinks, are prepared to reform the Dutch economy, and that makes them potential coalition partners, Balkenende said last week.

"We are talking about parties that are prepared to reform. To make the Netherlands stronger and help it through this difficult period," Balkenende told Nos TV.

Liberals are ready to trim the income tax and maintain the current mortgage-tax relief system, but to balance the government spending, they may sacrifice welfare and healthcare spending.

The PvdA has also amended its manifesto to boost the economy and make savings, in light of the Greek crisis, by planning to cut the second tax bracket from 42 percent to just under 40 percent.