BRUSSELS (AFP) — EU parliamentary elections hit turbulence Friday after prematurely published Dutch results confirmed fears of voter apathy and extremist gains and Britain's prime minister sought damage control.
As the world's biggest transnational vote gathered pace, with Czech and Irish voters going to the polls on day two, embattled British Prime Minister Gordon Brown was already licking his wounds.
A shell-shocked Brown reshuffled his cabinet and said his party had suffered a "painful defeat" after British voters cast their ballots on Thursday in both EU and local elections.
While he gave no indication of exactly how badly Labour had fared in the European polls, a pre-vote survey predicted the ruling party would finish third or fourth behind the opposition Conservatives and Liberal Democrats and maybe even the fringe anti-EU UK Independence Party.
Brown stressed that he "will not walk away" from his post, even though that's exactly what some Labour colleagues were advising as his support collapses.
If he does go precipitously it could spell more trouble for the EU's reforming Lisbon Treaty as Conservative leader David Cameron has said he wants a national referendum on the text which would heighten the EU parliament's role in creating laws throughout Europe.
In the Netherlands, far-right lawmaker Geert Wilders' Party for Freedom (PVV) came second in its first EU election with 17 percent of the vote and won four seats in the new parliament, according to near-complete results of Thursday's voting there.
Reviled and adored alike for his anti-Islamic rhetoric, the 45-year-old firebrand has made deep cracks in a long tradition of Dutch consensus politics, declaring himself on a mission to fight the "Islamisation" of the Netherlands. The Christian Democrats (CDA) of Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende lost over four percentage points compared to 2004 to finish with less than 20 percent, according to results released with 99.7 percent of the vote counted.
Release of the Dutch results broke European rules banning their publication before polls close across Europe Sunday night. The European Commission sought an explanation and mulled possible action.
The low turnout that many feared was also evident in the Netherlands, with 36.5 percent of voters in the founding EU member taking part, down from 39.2 percent in the previous elections in 2004.
Turnout has fallen with each EU election since the first in 1979, despite the growing role the parliament plays in adopting, amending or rejecting laws.
It could be lower in 2009 than the 45.6 percent last time, polls suggest.
Over 375 million people are eligible to take part in the elections rolling out across recession-hit Europe. Most of the 27 EU nations will vote Sunday, and the conservatives are expected to return as the largest bloc.
But their victory could be undermined by voter apathy and a focus on national woes rather than European issues.
Extremist anti-EU right- and left-wing parties hope to pick up votes and seats in the new 736-member assembly against a backdrop of recession and rising unemployment.
In Ireland, Prime Minister Brian Cowen's coalition government was bracing for a possible drubbing as the recession-hit economy reels.
Polls indicate support for his centrist Fianna Fail party is hitting record lows.
The polls may be a litmus test of Irish support for the European project ahead of a second referendum expected in October on the Lisbon Treaty.
These elections also saw a first outing for Libertas, the anti-Lisbon Treaty party, which played a central role in Ireland's shock 53.4 percent rejection of the EU blueprint a year ago.
Voters also headed to the polls Friday in the Czech Republic, current holder of the EU's rotating presidency, where an interim government is struggling to exert authority, ahead of national polls in October.
In Paris Tuesday eurosceptic Czech President Vaclav Klaus said: "I'm afraid that people living in Europe don't feel the importance of the European elections."
Cyprus, Latvia, Malta and Slovakia go to the polls on Saturday before Europe's Super Sunday, when the other 19 nations -- including France, Germany, Italy and Spain -- round off the voting.
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