Dutch voters went to the polls on Wednesday and delivered their verdict -- or rather a variety of verdicts. With immigration, integration and welfare refrom at the center of political debate, the parties who took a hardline on these issues, on both the left and right, saw their vote increase. With huge shifts in traditional electoral patterns in the Netherlands, the election offered a splintered parliament lacking a clear alliance of parties capable of forming a government.

Nevertheless, the governing Christian Democrats (CDA) were claiming victory after emerging as the biggest party in parliament. The problem the party now faces is that it doesn’t have enough seats to form a government alone or with its current coalition partners. Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenede is now faced with the job of trying to cobble together a government out of a kaleidiscope of ten disparate parties.

The center-right Christian Democrats, who only lost a few seats, saw the election results as a vindication of the party's policies. "The result is complicated. It will be tough going," Balkenende told his jubilant supporters on election night as the results were coming in. The CDA faces a difficult, almost insurmountable task. The numbers for a coalition with any other party just don't seem to add up. And with the center parties bleeding votes to the extreme left and right, it will be incredibly difficult to agree to a coherent coalition program.

Following the counting of almost all the votes, the CDA has 41 of 150 parliamentary seats -- down from 44. The center-left Social Democrats (PvdA) lost ten seats reducing them to 32. The big winner of the night was the left-wing Socialist Party (SP), which tripled its tally from 8 to 26 seats, thus taking over from the Liberals as the third-largest party. The far right also saw its fortunes soar. The Freedom Party (PVV) of right-wing populist Geert Wilders entered parliament for the first time with nine seats. On the other hand the free-market liberal party VVD, which is currently in a coalition with the CDA, lost six seats, reducing its total standing to just 22. The Green Party won seven seats, the small Christian Union party six, and the Party for Animals won two.

The new constellation means that neither the left nor right-wing blocs are in a position to win control of parliament. The CDA cannot form a coalition with the VVD or a Grand Coalition with the Social Democrats, or even an alliance with the SP and Greens to reach a majority. Finance Minister Gerrit Zalm of the VVD described the situation as "chaos," saying "It's extremely difficult to distil a government out of these results."

The country now faces difficult weeks if not months of coalition negotiations. Queen Beatrix, as head of state, is expected to appoint a mediator within the next few days to talk to the main political leaders and try to start the process of forming a government.

With a deeply divided country reflected in parliament it remains to be seen how the parties will ever be able to form a coalition program. The country is split not only on immigration policy but also on pro-business measures and welfare cuts versus more left-wing policies and a softer approach to integration.

The election is the third in four years, marking the most turbulent period in post-war Dutch history. Two political murders -- of Pim Fortuyn in 2002, and Theo Van Gogh  in 2004 -- have added to the sense of crisis in the country. As did the rejection of the European Constitution  by Dutch voters in 2005.

Balkenende is seen by many as wooden and uninspiring -- with his round glasses and boyish haircut he has even been compared to Harry Potter. Belgian Foreign Minister Karel De Gucht once called him a man without a "trace of charisma" but others praise his steadiness and perseverance. While he has managed to win three elections his track record on holding a government together is not exactly glowing. He first came to power in 2002, in coalition with Fortuyn's party following his murder. That government only lasted 87 days before a new election had to be called in 2003. The next government collapsed  when the junior coalition party D66 pulled out following the attempt by the hardline Immigration Minister Rita Verdonk to withdraw the citizenship of its representative Ayaan Hirsi Ali.