Dutch vote could affect how EU tackles debt crisis

(AP) Dutch voters can change their country's course in tackling the European debt crisis when they elect a new parliament Wednesday.

The election has boiled down to a tight race between the free-market VVD party of Prime Minister Mark Rutte and the center-left Labor Party led by Diederik Samsom, with other parties trailing.

Whichever party wins the most seats in the 150-seat Dutch House of Representatives could be able to form the next ruling coalition and choose the prime minister.

Rutte is a close ally of German Chancellor Angela Merkel and supports her budgetary austerity agenda for reining in the debt crisis. Samsom is closer to French President Francois Hollande, who favors spending to spur economic growth.