Far-Right Icon Predicted to Win Dutch Elections

[bsnub]

The Netherlands on Wednesday took a startling turn in national elections with the potential to ripple through Europe, as Dutch voters threw most support behind the party of a far-right icon with an incendiary reputation who had campaigned on an anti-immigrant platform.

Geert Wilders, a political provocateur long known for his anti-Islam and anti-Europe stances, appeared poised to come out significantly ahead with the most parliamentary seats, according to some early results and exit polls, which were expected to be dependable, especially given the margin of victory they indicated.

“The Dutch voter has spoken,” Mr. Wilders said in a speech on Wednesday night, declaring himself the winner. “The voter has said, ‘We are fed up.’” He added that he wanted to return “the Netherlands to the Dutch.”

If the preliminary results hold up, the Netherlands will be at the threshold of uncertain new political terrain after 13 years of stewardship by Prime Minister Mark Rutte, a stalwart of Dutch politics and a dependable presence on the E.U. stage.

Mr. Rutte had helped the small European nation punch above its weight in the European Union, especially after the British exit, as he advanced an agenda of rules-based free trade and commerce, fiscal prudence and liberal social values.

Mr. Wilders, on the other hand, has argued for a Dutch exit from the bloc, in addition to promoting positions so extreme — such as ending immigration from Muslim countries, taxing head scarves and banning the Quran — that he requires a security detail.

“The Netherlands will be tougher and more conservative in Europe,” including on budgets and migration, said Simon Otjes, an assistant professor who teaches Dutch politics at Leiden University.

But the Dutch position in the European Union did not feature prominently in the campaign, Mr. Otjes said, and he predicted that an actual Dutch exit from the bloc was unlikely, because a majority of lawmakers would not support it.

A victory for Mr. Wilders would lengthen a string of advances for far-right parties in northern Europe, including Sweden, where the government now depends on the parliamentary votes of a party with neo-Nazi roots, and Finland, where the right has ascended into the governing coalition.

The elections came two years ahead of schedule after Mr. Rutte’s governing coalition collapsed over disputes over immigration policy in July. Early indicators gave Mr. Wilders’s Party for Freedom 35 seats in the 150-seat Parliament, so even if it comes out on top it will be necessary for it to partner with other parties.

Forging a coalition could take weeks or months of haggling and its shape is far from clear, but it now seems certain to test the tolerance of the Netherlands’ mainstream parties for dealing with a politician they have often ostracized.

On Wednesday, Mr. Wilders addressed other parties in a speech, saying that as the biggest political party of the Netherlands, his party could no longer be ignored and imploring them to work together.

The election outcome left the Dutch political establishment dismayed.

“For us this result is a disappointment,” Dilan Yesilgoz-Zegerius, the lead candidate of the People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy, said in a short speech on Wednesday night. She added that her party had not listened well enough to voters.

As voting neared, Mr. Wilders seemed to have moderated his stances against Islam. Last week, he told a Dutch television show that he was willing to make concessions on his anti-Islam policies, saying that “there are more important priorities.” The change of tone seemed to have worked in softening up voters.

The election was one of the most competitive and unpredictable in the country’s recent past, with four of the country’s largest parties jockeying until the very last minute.

A coalition between the Green Party and the Labor Party had the second-strongest showing, with an estimated 25 seats. The Green-Labor coalition, led by Frans Timmermans, a former European Union climate czar, has said it will not govern with Mr. Wilders’s party.

Pieter Omtzigt, the man who dominated the campaign and served as its chief protagonist, won 20 seats, fewer than some early polls had indicated. His party, New Social Contract, was formed in August and had seemed to be drawing protest votes from left and right in a country where voters had grown disillusioned with their political leadership after Mr. Rutte’s government was hobbled by several scandals.

Instead, it appeared, the disaffected sought a more dramatic change than usual and gravitated toward Mr. Wilders, delivering a relative landslide for the far right for the first time in a national election for the House of Representatives.

In July, Mr. Rutte announced that he would leave Dutch politics entirely after his government collapsed because it failed to agree on migration policy. He will stay on as caretaker prime minister until a new government is formed.

It was long hard to imagine the country under a different leader, and for much of his tenure Mr. Rutte had the reputation of a sober leader while populists sprouted up in other countries. Nicknamed “Teflon Mark,” he seemed to survive any scandals his government faced.

Because of a scandal in which Mr. Rutte’s government failed to protect thousands of families from overzealous tax inspectors, his government resigned in early 2021. But he was easily re-elected in the national vote that followed.

The elections had been hard to predict until the last minute. With the new players and the creation of a brand-new party, the atmosphere of this election cycle had been more intense and unpredictable than in prior years, voters said, especially after more than a decade of little to no change in leadership.

“I find it very exciting,” said Katja Henneveld on Wednesday, after casting her vote in Amsterdam. “I’m nervous.”

The climate and a lack of housing in the country ranked among the most important issues in this campaign for her, she said.

For Marieke Schunselaar, a 24-year-old voter, climate was also the biggest issue this campaign. She also said that she was surprised by a seeming rise of populist parties — such as Mr. Wilders’s Party for Freedom and the Farmer Citizen Movement, which swept regional elections this year, something she called a “worry for many young voters.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/22/w...t-wilders.html

[malmomike77]

I thought he already had?

[taxexile]

icon with an incendiary reputation.

i wonder who they can mean?

[Bonecollector]

He's patriotic not far right, something you wouldn't know much about.

[taxexile]

Geert Wilders, the veteran anti-Islam firebrand, has won a convincing victory in the Dutch general election after one of the country’s most close-fought campaigns for many years.

Exit polls showed the leader of the Freedom Party (PVV), who has called for a ban on mosques, the Koran and Islamic schools, well ahead of his two rivals in what had been expected to be a knife-edge three-way race.

Mr Wilders was predicted to win 35 seats, up 18 from the last elections in 2021, according to preliminary results. Final polls before Wednesday’s vote had put him on course to secure 28 seats.

“The largest party in the Netherlands, and I tell you, the voter has spoken. We are sick of it and we are going to ensure that the Dutchman comes first again,” the 60-year-old political veteran said amid cheers from his surprised and overjoyed supporters.

“We can’t be ignored,” he added, as he railed against the “asylum tsunami” and called on other parties to join him in coalition.

this should be interesting.

[britanicus123]

'Mr. Wilders, on the other hand, has argued for a Dutch exit from the bloc, in addition to promoting positions so extreme — such as ending immigration from Muslim countries, taxing head scarves and banning the Quran — that he requires a security detail.'


Excellent policies, but just ban hijabs etc. Muslim women are only covered up for one reason. The prophet ordered his wife's to cover themselves so they could not be seen having a dump etc in the fields. I think they have toilets in the Netherlands now so there is no need for this covering up rigmarole.

[schweizer]

The problem is he doesn't have enough seats to form a government so needs to create a coalition, easier said than done.
His politics historically have polarised the other parties with seats so some will not work with him
the EU Brussels machine will demonise him as they fear people like him, he is a stated anti-EU politician
It just shows the real issues in the EU, mass uncontrolled immigration is a problem but nobody has a realistic solution

[Pragmatic]

Holland (NEXIT) in line to pull out of the EU?

[FelixTheCat]

He's patriotic not far right, something you wouldn't know much about.

All non-leftists are far-right.

[cyrille]

The world's going to .

[david44]

You put you right clog in your right clog kick the immigrant and shake it all about,

Pym firtunately the other parties wont touch him with a Dike hopping pole.

The once tolerant Netherlands may make canapiss Smoking mandatory while sucking an orange

Mayo will be serbed no just met frites but on hot dogs hot chciks, imagine having to deal with the missus slavered in edible cream

No Rock music at the Bulldog paradiso or Melkweg and the Societe Anonom schausage schmuggler will be made tax exiles in a brothel

Like Le Pen Orban Meloony and Farage-BloJo-Truss and Trump a gauge of how many anal retentive intolerant MAOists abroad tonight

Lekker

[Norton]

Far right seems the trend these days. Argentina just elected a "far righter".

[FelixTheCat]

Yes, anyone that does not applaud opening their borders to people that do not share their culture and that would wipe their a** with the host country's flag are far right extremists.

[harrybarracuda]

Far right = blame everyone else but themselves for their own failings.

[Airportwo]

He's patriotic not far right, something you wouldn't know much about.

Exactly - if you don't agree with the agenda your far right, far left is ok, normality no longer exists, people accept blatant corruption and "governments" representing corporate poisoning them, at some point some more people will wake up once they can see thru the distractions, some will never wake up........

[harrybarracuda]

Exactly - if you don't agree with the agenda your far right, far left is ok, normality no longer exists, people accept blatant corruption and "governments" representing corporate poisoning them, at some point some more people will wake up once they can see thru the distractions, some will never wake up........

Drank the trumpanzee koolaid didn't you?

[Bonecollector]

All non-leftists are far-right.

All conspiracy theorists as well huh

[Bonecollector]

Far right = blame everyone else but themselves for their own failings.

It is this kind of psychotic twisted tyranny that makes me believe there is no hope for humanity. The right have fucking morals which they stick to, they believe in something and they stick to it. The left with their insecurities and sheep like behavior float wherever the wind takes them.

[bsnub]

The right have fucking morals which they stick to, they believe in something and they stick to it.

[harrybarracuda]

The right have fucking morals which they stick to, they believe in something and they stick to it.

Hilarious, thanks for starting my day with a good laugh.

[FelixTheCat]

moron?

[FelixTheCat]

Do you ever hear legacy media calling anyone far-left?

[cyrille]

Can't be arsed finding out what 'legacy media' means, but...

Yeah.

The far left wages an internal fight: Help Democrats or reject the establishment?

[FelixTheCat]

Can't be arsed finding out what 'legacy media' means, but...

Yeah.

The far left wages an internal fight: Help Democrats or reject the establishment?

Could you be "arsed" to read what you linked to? Who did they call far-left?

[bsnub]

In America, the far-left and the far-right are very close to each other and the Horseshoe theory is very much at play. Both are pro-Russia, both want Ukraine to surrender to the ruzzians, both hate Israel and the Jews and push conspiracy theories. Lots of same same there.