'Heartbroken' Muslim mayor takes stock of Wilders' win

Soon after news broke that the populist Geert Wilders and his anti-Islam Party for Freedom (PVV) had won the most votes of any party in the Dutch elections, Ahmed Marcouch found himself comforting his distraught eight-year-old.

- Ashifa Kassam

Earlier in the day, a teacher at his son's school had explained the election results, discussing the differences between parties. Now Marcouch's son was terrified that the family would have to leave the country.

"It was heartbreaking," said Marcouch. But for the Moroccan-born mayor of the eastern Dutch city of Arnhem, it was also a worrying sign of just how deeply politics had veered into the personal.

PVV emerged as the most voted for party in the Gelderland province, home to Arnhem, with more than 20% backing promises that included the rejection of all new asylum claims, the banning of Islamic headscarves from public buildings, deporting dual national criminals and ending the free movement of EU workers.