Provisional results released early Thursday for the provincial vote gave 37 out of 75 Senate seats to an alliance of the pro-business, liberal VVD party, the Christian Democratic Action (CDA) and the Party for Freedom (PVV) of controversial anti-Islam MP Geert Wilders.
That result, issued with 98 percent of the vote counted, is one short of the majority required to pass laws through the veto-wielding Senate -- the first time since 1918 that a Dutch government will find itself in such a position.
Turnout was 55.9 percent, well up on the 2007 elections (46.4 percent). "It is a very hard blow for the government," Free University of Amsterdam political analyst Andre Krouwel told AFP, adding that Wednesday's vote was akin to a referendum on the cabinet and its far-right partner Wilders PVV
For more: AFP: Dutch government dealt election blow in Senate
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