Dutch go to polls
Dutch voters go to the polls today where they are expected to reject the European Constitution.
Opinion polls suggest between 60 and 65 per cent of Dutch voters oppose the treaty.
The result is expected a few hours after the polls close at 2100. Voting is reported to have been brisk and the turnout is likely to be high.
A second ‘no’ vote would throw the future of the constitution into grave doubt.
France rejected the constitution on Sunday.
French prime minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin resigned yesterday in the wake of the poll defeat and French president Jacques Chirac is tipped to reshuffle his cabinet to win round voters peeved at his conservative government’s handling of the economy and welfare system.
Although nine countries have already approved the treaty, the French ‘no’ has prompted some countries to ask whether voting is necessary.
Former European commissioner Neil Kinnock yesterday said the treaty was “dead”, saying: “I understand why they emphasise the need for a period of reflection – that there has to be.
“But the reflection can only come sensibly to one conclusion, especially when a government or governments will be mandated to veto the treaty.”
