2023-11-22 23:19:00
He far-right anti-Islam, anti-immigrant and anti-EU party of politician Geert Wilders, nicknamed the “Dutch Trump”, won 35 seats in Parliament in the elections on November 22, a surprising victory and a political earthquake that will resonate in Europe and beyond. If confirmed, Wilders’ victory marks a sharp shift to the right for the EU’s fifth-largest economy that will be viewed with trepidation in Brussels: the party has promised a referendum on Dutch membership in the European Union.
According to the exit results, The PVV (Freedom Party) surpassed the center-right bloc formed by the Party of Labor and the Greens (GL-PvdA) with 23 seatsand a left-wing bloc from the People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) – of acting Prime Minister Mark Rutte – with 26. For its part, the New Social Contract (NSC) won 20 seats in the Dutch Lower House , although far from the result predicted in the polls, which placed it as one of the formations destined to revolutionize national politics.
The PVV proposes to detain and deport illegal immigrants and ban the veil in government buildings
From calling Moroccans “scum” to holding caricature contests of the Prophet Muhammad, Wilders built a career on his self-proclaimed mission to stop an “Islamic invasion” of the West. He remained defiant despite his brush with the law (he was convicted of insulting Moroccans) and death threats that forced him into police protection since 2004.
Wilders appears to have finally triumphed following toning down some of his populist rhetoric and focusing on other voters’ concerns. There are “bigger problems than fighting the avalanche of asylum seekers and immigrants,” he said in one of the last electoral debates, adding that he was willing to put his views on Islam “on the freezer” in order to govern.
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However, its PVV manifesto maintained the sharp anti-immigrant tone that has become its hallmark: “Asylum seekers feast on delicious free buffets on cruise ships, while Dutch families have to cut back on shopping,” it said. reads in the manifesto, which includes proposals such as restore Dutch border control, detain and deport illegal immigrants, return Syrian asylum seekers and reintroduce work permits for workers within the EU.
Regarding Islam, the PVV manifesto says: “The Netherlands is not an Islamic country. There are no Islamic schools, Korans or mosques.” Proposes banning the veil in government buildings. In foreign policy, the PVV proposes an approach of “the dutch first” which includes closing its representation in Ramallah and strengthening ties with Israel, including moving its embassy to Jerusalem. The manifesto also includes a “binding referendum” on a “Nexit” (the Netherlands’ exit from the EU), along with with an “immediate cessation” of development aid.
Who is Geert Wilders?
Born in 1963 in the south of Venlo, near the German border, Wilders grew up in a Catholic family with a mother of Indonesian origin. (a fact he rarely mentioned) a brother and two sisters.
His interest in politics developed in the 1980s, according to what his older brother, Paul, told the magazine. The mirror. “He was not clearly left or right at the time, nor was he xenophobic. But he was fascinated by the political game, the struggle for power and influence,” he said.
His hatred of Islam seemed to have developed slowly. He spent time in Israel on a kibbutz, witnessing firsthand the tensions with the Palestinians. He was also shocked by the murders of far-right leader Pim Fortuyn in 2002 and radical anti-Islamic filmmaker Theo van Gogh in 2004. When he heard the news of the murder his “legs trembled with shock and indignation,” he wrote in a book 2012. “I can honestly say I felt anger, not fear.”.
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Wilders entered politics in 1998 in the liberal VVD party. During his early days in politics, he began dying his brown hair blonde and learned to be a media expert, even as his opinions became increasingly silenced. In those years, he was found guilty of insulting Moroccan-Dutch citizens, in a high-profile trial he increased his visibility just a few months following Brexit and just as Donald Trump was winning the US presidential race.
In 2006 he left the VVD to found his own party and in 2017 it became the second largest party in parliament, only to fall back to the third party in 2021. By tapping into a vein of Dutch discontent, Wilders also managed to push political discourse in the Netherlands to the right.
His party consisted of only one person: himself. And his security meant he had little contact with the outside world. “Geert’s world has become very small,” his brother told The mirror. “This includes parliament, public events and his apartment. He can hardly go anywhere else.”
The extreme right won in the Netherlands: what will happen now?
76 is the magic number. That’s how many seats in the 150-seat parliament any coalition needs to govern.. As soon as the final results are known, the calculators will come out to see what combination of the many competing parties can reach that number.
The new House of Representatives meets to begin the task of forming a cabinet, “a complex and exciting process”, as the parliament’s own website describes it.
First of all, political parties appoint a “scout” to start initial talks. Parliament then appoints an “informant” to determine the possible contours of a coalition agreement. Before 2012, this person was appointed by the monarch.
When it seems that a group of parties can work together, a “formateur” appears, which is almost always the person who won the election. That person begins the delicate work of building a potential cabinet.
If everything is agreed, the parties sign a coalition agreement and the new government presents its plans in parliament, followed by a vote of confidence, and compete to include as much of their manifesto as possible in the coalition agreementand that is even before competing for ministerial positions.
Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s last government took a record 271 days to form, but this time it might take even longer. “Amid high fragmentation, government formation remains almost even more important than the exact outcome of the elections”says Herman Betten of the Teneo Research Group.
Most analysts do not expect a government to be formed before mid-2024. Until then, the outgoing cabinet and the Prime Minister Mark Rutte, who pushed for early elections when his cabinet collapsed over immigration policy and announced that he was leaving national politics.
Things tend to work out pretty well during the intervening period. This is a proven process, as never in Dutch history has a party obtained more than 50 percent of the vote.
Rutte, best known internationally for cycling to work, sometimes eating an apple along the way, was a strong voice in Europe, sometimes irritating his southern colleagues with his focus on fiscal discipline. Speculation abounds that wants to become the new secretary general of the NATO alliance when Jens Stoltenberg leaves office.
Rutte downplayed the idea, although he admitted it would be an “interesting role.” She said she believes the position should go to a woman.
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