Commentary on the general election: The Dutch were fed up

The election victory of the right-wing populist Wilders in the Netherlands is a radical rejection of what was. Voters are fed up with their politicians. This should also be a warning shot for Germany.

This political earthquake makes one thing clear: the Dutch do not want a prime minister who gives up his responsibilities in order to pursue an even nicer position. In the summer, Mark Rutte quit the Dutch almost overnight, leaving the field to a force that had previously been too weak to govern and too radical.

That has changed. Geert Wilders was omnipresent in the election campaign. With polished rhetoric, he covered up the radical edges of yesteryear. He cleverly ensnared the previous, self-professedly liberal governing party, which at times had to feel positively flattered by Wilders.

Wilders will do anything to come to power

Now Wilders has the upper hand. And he will do everything to come to power, to reinvent himself as a realpolitiker. He will not allow himself to be relegated to the second row.

The election result is a radical rejection of what was. It shows very clearly that voters have recently thought little or nothing of their political leaders, who have disappointed them with their volatility and inaction. The entire middle class and its problems were ignored. Families were left in the lurch in the overpriced housing market and not even the smallest reforms to migration were possible. Instead of sticking together, especially in difficult times, the coalition partners in the Netherlands have split apart. There was now a receipt for that.

The spectacle presented by a Christian Democrat was unworthy. He left his old party headlong to form his own, whose pretentious name “New Social Contract” symbolizes the political autism that many Dutch people are fed up with.

A warning shot for Germany and Europe

The election result is a warning shot for Germany and for Europe. In our case, a coalition that is no less complicated is close to the abyss. Especially in difficult times, solutions must be sought and found. This is precisely when you have to pull yourself together.

Whether a Prime Minister Wilders can be stopped depends on the ability of the other parties to do something together to oppose it. So far there have been coalitions that were supposed to be for something. Now it should be counter-coalitions that have already failed miserably in their claims.

It cannot be ruled out that Wilders will become Prime Minister in a minority government. The other parties probably have to stop trying to stop Wilders. In the end they have to come to terms with him, whether they want to or not.