2023-11-24 18:36:46
Perhaps the hardest part has begun. After the victory of the far right in the Dutch legislative elections, the scale of which surprised beyond the borders, an arduous task awaits its Islamophobic leader Geert Wilders from Thursday: convince his rivals to form a coalition.
His Freedom Party (PVV) won 37 of 150 seats in Parliament, more than double that in the 2021 poll, according to almost complete results. “The voters have spoken. Seats are assigned. It is now important to see what points we can agree on,” said Mr Wilders, celebrating his success with champagne.
Addressing jubilant supporters in The Hague after exiting the polls, Mr Wilders reiterated his anti-immigrant rhetoric, saying the Dutch had voted to stem the “tsunami” of asylum seekers.
The “Prime Minister of all Dutch people”
However, he later told reporters that he wanted to be the “prime minister of all Dutch people” and that he would “work hard with other parties” to form a coalition. But the unexpected victory of the 60-year-old politician with the famous peroxided hair does not secure him this position.
The left-ecologists alliance of Francs Timmermans, second with 25 seats, immediately rejected any coalition with Mr. Wilders. “The time has come for us to defend democracy,” declared the former European leader. Dilan Yesilgöz, leader of the People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD, center right, 24 seats) of outgoing Prime Minister Mark Rutte, said, after a disappointing result, that it will be necessary to see if Mr. Wilders will succeed in build a coalition.
VIDEO. Netherlands: Geert Wilders’ far right wins legislative elections
Before the elections, the leaders of the three main political forces had assured that they would not participate in a government led by the PVV. But the latter “can no longer be ignored”, insisted Mr. Wilders. A novice on the political scene, Pieter Omtzigt, of the new anti-corruption party New Social Contract (NSC, 20 seats), said he was “available” for negotiations, while conceding that the process would not be “easy”.
“It will depend entirely on the VVD,” Sarah de Lange, professor of political pluralism at the University of Amsterdam, told AFP. “A big question will be who will be prime minister, because with Wilders as prime minister, the Netherlands finds itself in an impossible situation internationally.”
The fear of “Nexit”
Mr Wilders’ victory should be greeted with apprehension in Brussels: Mr Wilders, anti-EU and in favor of a “Nexit”, has promised a referendum on whether or not the Netherlands should remain in the European Union. Some reacted with concern in the Netherlands. “People are worried, some are afraid,” Habib el Kaddouri, of the foundation for Dutch-Moroccans SMN, told AFP. “Others are uncertain about their future” or “their place in Dutch society.”
The European far right welcomed this victory. “Europeans are increasingly demanding that we defend their nations, their borders, their rights,” declared the leader of the Spanish far-right group Vox, Santiago Abascal, on X.
Hungarian nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban welcomed “the winds of change” on the same social network. For the leader of the French National Rally Marine Le Pen, this result “confirms the growing attachment to the defense of national identities”.
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