The trend toward hard-right parties continues.
(“Far-right leader Geert Wilders wins Dutch election“):
The anti-Islam, Euroskeptic radical Geert Wilders is projected to be the shock winner of the Dutch election.
With almost all votes counted, in a dramatic result that will stun European politics, his Freedom Party (PVV) is set to win around 37 of the 150 seats in parliament — more than double the number it secured in the 2021 election, according to exit polls.
Frans Timmermans’ Labour-Green alliance is forecast to take second place, winning 25 seats — a big jump from its current 17. Dilan Yeşilgöz, outgoing premier Mark Rutte’s successor as head of the center-right VVD, suffered heavy losses and is on course to take 24 seats, 10 fewer than before, according to early results.
A win for Wilders will put the Netherlands on track — potentially — for a dramatic shift in direction, after Rutte’s four consecutive centrist governments. The question now, though, is whether any other parties are willing to join Wilders to form a coalition. Despite emerging as the largest party, he will struggle to find an overall majority in parliament.
To the soundtrack of Rocky, Eye of the Tiger, Wilders greeted his supporters in a café on the Dutch coast with a big smile. “The voters have spoken tonight and they have said that they are fed up,” he said. “We are going to make sure that Dutch voters will be put first again.”
The party wants to work toward curbing the “asylum tsunami,” putting more money in people’s wallets and better security, Wilders added.
He extended a hand to other parties, declaring it is time to work together to come up with solutions. Wilders even suggested he would be willing to compromise on his anti-Muslim ideals for the sake of entering government. “I understand very well that parties do not want to be in a government with a party that wants unconstitutional measures,” he said. “We are not going to talk about mosques, Qurans and Islamic schools.”
Reuters (“Dutch election: Far-right’s Wilders aims to be PM after shock win“) adds:
Far-right populist Geert Wilders wants to be the Netherlands’ next prime minister and would focus his efforts on curbing immigration, he said following a landmark election win that will have repercussions in the Netherlands and Europe.
A fan of former U.S. President Donald Trump and Hungary’s eurosceptic Prime Minister Viktor Orban, the vocally anti-Islam, anti-EU Wilders has also vowed to slash Dutch payments to the European Union and block the entrance of any new members, including Ukraine.
Though Wilders’ most radical ideas will be rejected by other parties he must work with in order to form a coalition government, fellow populists including Italy’s Deputy Prime Minister and leader of the hard-right League Matteo Salvini welcomed his win as showing that “a new Europe is possible.”
[…]
While his party will claim almost a quarter of seats in parliament, Wilders needs mainstream parties to join him in a coalition to govern and will have to water down some of his views.
Notably, none of the parties Wilders could form a government with would be willing to leave the EU or violate Dutch constitutional guarantees on freedom of religion, but he said he was confident an agreement could be reached.
[…]
Wilders’ win sends a warning shot to mainstream parties across Europe ahead of the European Parliament elections next June, which will likely be fought on the same issues as the Dutch election: immigration, cost of living and climate change.
“We had it with the old politicians,” voter Herman Borcher said in the eastern town of Enschede, welcoming the election outcome.
“The Netherlands needed change,” voter Sabine Schoppen agreed, adding with a smile: “Rutte bye bye. Welcome Geert Wilders.”
It’s certainly a refrain we’ve heard before. Whether Wilders is able to form a governing coalition and how much of the agenda on which he ran can be enacted remains to be seen. But we’ve seen the rise of the populist right going back to at least the Brexit vote, albeit not without exception.
Reuters:
Poland’s election last month, won by a grouping of pro-European parties against the nationalist Law and Justice (PiS), shows not all countries in the region are veering to the right.
“The Netherlands are not France,” French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire quickly reacted, while acknowledging that the Dutch election showed “the fears that are emerging in Europe” over immigration and the economy.
But Wilders’ victory comes two months after the return to power of the equally anti-EU populist Robert Fico in Slovakia, who has pledged to halt military aid to Ukraine and cut immigration.
“The winds of change are here!,” Hungary’s Orban said.
Wilders has repeatedly said the Netherlands should stop providing arms to Ukraine, as he says the country needs the weapons to be able to defend itself. He is strongly pro-Israel.
Islamic and Moroccan organisations, and other rights groups, expressed concerns about Wilders’ victory. Muslims make up about 5% of the population.
“These election results are shocking for Dutch Muslims,” said Muhsin Koktas, of Dutch Muslim organisation CMO. “We have great concerns about the future of Islam and Muslims in the Netherlands.”
Amnesty International said: “Yesterday, human rights lost.”
All eyes will now turn to Wilders’ potential government partners who had expressed serious doubts about working with him during the campaign, but were now less outspoken after his win.
“We are available to govern,” NSC party’s Omtzigt said. “This is a difficult outcome. We will discuss on Thursday in what way we could best contribute.”
VVD leader Dilan Yesilgoz, who earlier this week said her party wouldn’t join a government led by Wilders, said it was now up to the winner to show he could get a majority.
Again, it’s part of a trend we’ve seen for a few years now.
