Geert Wilders, leader of the Party for Freedom (PVV), in The Hague, 1 March 2024. (Bart Maat, ANP)
Geert Wilders, leader of the Islamophobic far right, announced on March 13 that he will not become prime minister due to lack of support from the political parties with which he was trying to form a governing coalition.
“I could only become prime minister if all the coalition parties supported me, but that wasn’t the case,” Wilders said on the social network X, almost four months after the legislative elections.
“I will continue to work for the formation of a right-wing government, which will put a stop to migrants,” he added. “The Dutch come first.”
Dutch media have reported a breakthrough in negotiations that is expected to lead to the formation of a caretaker government, which Wilders would not be able to lead.
The composition of the executive has not yet been defined, but it is ruled out that the leaders of the parties involved in the negotiations, including Wilders, could be part of it.
In the early elections of 22 November 2023, the Party for Freedom (PVV), Wilders’s formation, obtained the relative majority of votes.
At that point Wilders had expressed his desire to lead a coalition government also composed of the People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD, centre-right), the centrist New Social Contract (NSC) and the agricultural Civic-Peasant Movement (BBB). ).
But negotiations became complicated last month when NSC leader Pieter Omtzigt announced his retirement, citing the bleak state of public finances.
Omtzigt had previously expressed his concern about the positions of Wilders, a climate denier who proposes the closure of mosques and a referendum to leave the European Union.
According to polls, Wilders’ PVV has increased its support in recent months.
Outgoing Prime Minister Mark Rutte, former leader of the VVD, is the favorite for the position of Secretary General of NATO.