“Dutch Trump”
The Netherlands has voted – right-wing populist Wilder’s probably the strongest force
The right-wing populist Geert Wilders was one of the favorites for the election in the Netherlands for the first time this year
© Peter Dejong / AP / DPA
Now the right-wing populists are also big in the Netherlands: According to forecasts, anti-Islamist Geert Wilders won the parliamentary election there. And now he wants to take power.
According to a forecast, the right-wing populist Geert Wilders is the winner of the Dutch parliamentary election – and now wants to become prime minister. “The voter has now spoken,” Wilders said on television on Wednesday evening. “I think we all have to jump over our shadows now.” Under no circumstances should the will of the voters be ignored. “The Netherlands has spoken and – as far as I’m concerned – that has to be implemented.” A preliminary result is expected early Thursday morning.
Wilders tried to allay fears that his Party for Freedom (PVV) would take too radical action. He assured that the forced closure of mosques that he was seeking was not currently an issue. The priority now is to limit the “asylum tsunami”.
According to a forecast by Dutch television, Wilders’ PVV will win 35 of the 150 seats in parliament. Approval of the PVV has continued to rise in the surveys in recent weeks. The leading candidate of the right-wing liberals, Dilan Yesilgöz, is often seen as partly responsible for this. She said at the beginning of the election campaign that she would not rule out Wilders as a coalition partner from the outset. The outgoing Prime Minister Mark Rutte, also a right-wing liberal, had always refused to work with Wilders. The question was immediately raised on Dutch television on Wednesday evening as to whether Yesilgöz had made Wilders socially acceptable with her approach.
Government of the Netherlands still completely open
According to the forecast, Yesilgöz and Rutte’s party, the right-wing liberal People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), will have 24 seats, a loss of ten mandates. The alliance of the Greens and Social Democrats, led by former EU Commissioner Frans Timmermans, creates 25 seats, an increase of eight. The party of the former Christian Democrat Pieter Omtzigt, the New Social Contract (NSC), which was founded just a few weeks ago, can expect 20 seats according to the forecast.
It is completely unclear whether Wilders can actually form the next government. Omtzigt had ruled out working with him in the election campaign because he represented anti-constitutional positions. Yesilgöz did not explicitly rule out collaboration, but said she did not want to join a government under Wilders as prime minister.
The early parliamentary election became necessary after Rutte’s center-right coalition collapsed in the summer after just 18 months in office. The reason for this was a dispute over migration policy. Rutte, the longest-serving Prime Minister in Dutch history, then announced his departure from national politics and now wants to become NATO Secretary General. However, he will remain in office until a new government takes office.
dissatisfaction with politics
In the Netherlands, right-wing populism established itself as an integral part of the political landscape more than 20 years ago. The first successful right-wing populist Pim Fortuyn was murdered by a militant animal protection activist in 2002 a few days before the parliamentary elections. Wilders inherited his legacy and made much more radical demands, such as a ban on the Koran. The political scientist and Wilders biographer Meindert Fennema (1946-2023) warned in an interview with the German Press Agency in 2017: “He is someone who wants to abolish the rule of law through democratic means.”
Surveys have repeatedly shown that Wilders voters tend to be pessimistic about their future and are afraid of change. They often live in stagnating industrial areas or in the countryside where the young are moving away.
Wilder’s slogans include not only “Islam does not belong in the Netherlands”, but also “More staff in care” and “Lower rents and taxes”. Political scientists see this mixture of right-wing slogans and classic left-wing demands as his recipe for success. Another special feature: Wilders’ party only has one member – himself. In this way, he wants to prevent others from overruling him and taking over the reins themselves.
Note: This article has been updated several times