AMSTERDAM, (Reuters):
THE NETHERLANDS emphatically rejected the European Union constitution in a referendum yesterday, potentially killing off a treaty already spurned by France and plunging the bloc deeper into crisis.
With 66.8 per cent of votes counted, Dutch news agency ANP said 62.2 per cent had voted "No" to 37.8 per cent in favour with turnout at 63.9 per cent, well above the 39 per cent that voted in last year's European Parliament election.
'No' campaigners from the Socialist Party at a celebration in Amsterdam greeted the outcome with wild cheers, punching the air in jubilation after a campaign which united disparate fringe parties from left and right in hostility to the charter.
CONCEDE DEFEAT
Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende was quick to concede defeat for a "Yes" campaign led by his unpopular centre-right government but urged other countries in the bloc of 25 member states to press ahead with ratification.
"The voters have given a clear signal that cannot be misunderstood," he said. "We must do everything we can to involve citizens in the Europe of the future."
The Dutch vote is not legally binding, but Balkenende said the Government would respect the result.
DIFFICULT TIMES AHEAD
The resounding "No", even stronger than nearly 55 per cent against the treaty in France on Sunday, is the latest sign of Dutch anger with the political elite since the 2002 murder of anti-immigration populist Pim Fortuyn. Unease was further stoked by the killing last year of a filmmaker critical of Islam.
Leading "No" campaigner Geert Wilders, seen as an heir to Fortuyn, called on Balkenende to resign and call new elections.
Elections are not due until 2007 and Balkenende has insisted he would not quit if voters rejected the charter.
"If you realise that two-thirds of parliament supported the constitution and two out of three people in the land are against, it means a lot is wrong in the country," Wilders said.
