Poll: Party leaders responsible for asylum debate tensions

The majority of the Dutch voters are happy with the public letter in which the party leaders called on the population to keep a cool head during the asylum debate. An even larger majority thinks that the party leaders themselves are responsible for the escalation, with PVV leader Geert Wilders being named most often. This is according to Maurice de Hond's latest poll. A massive 70 percent of Dutch find the party leaders' letter on the asylum debate to be a good initiative. Only PVV voters did not approve of the letter, with 60 percent thinking it was not a good idea. 77 percent think that the party leaders have themselves to blame for the escalation. Geert Wilders and his anti-Islam speeches and protests was named most often (39 percent) as responsible for the escalation, followed by PvdA leader Diederik Samsom, VVD leader Halbe Zijlstra and D66 leader Alexander Pechtold. More than three quarters of Dutch voters think that Wilma Mansveld did the right thing in resigning as State Secretary of Economic Affairs following the report on the Fyra fiasco. A large majority - 66 percent - think that Minister Melanie Schultz van Haegen should also step down. This idea is most popular among voters for the SP, 50Plus and PVV, but even the majority of VVD voters, the Minister's own party, approve of her resignation. This week has seen little movement in party support. GroenLinks gained one virtual seat and now has 14 seats. The CDA lost one seat and is down to 18.