2023-11-23 05:01:00
The Freedom Party (PVV), with far-right ideology and anti-immigration, was the most voted force with 35 of the 150 seats in the parliamentary elections held early this Wednesday in the Netherlands, after the resignation of the prime minister ago. a few months for not reaching an agreement within his coalition on changes in immigration policy.
The victory of the anti-Islamist Geert Wilders in these elections is much larger than all the polls published in recent days had predicted, so the PVV doubles the current 17 seats it has as an opposition party. It is followed by the left-wing bloc formed by the social democrat PvdA and the green GroenLinks, led by former vice president of the European Commission Frans Timmermans, which would obtain 26 seats. Third place goes to the right-wing liberal VVD, led by the Turkish-Dutch Dilan Yeşilgöz and to which the acting Prime Minister, Mark Rutte, belongs, which suffers an electoral blow and would be left with only 23 seats, compared to the current 34. .
Anti-Islam and anti-immigration
In his first speech after learning the poll data, Wilders assured that the PVV wants to work with other parties from a great position and that means, he noted, that the other groups must give in and negotiate the formation of a government with him. “The hope of the Netherlands is that people take their country back. That the asylum tsunami is limited, that more money reaches citizens’ wallets,” said Wilders, who considered that the voters spoke and that the PVV will make sure to prioritize the interests of the Dutch in the next legislature, in which he wants to be prime minister.
Wilders, the most threatened politician in the Netherlands for his criticism of Islam, thus defended a possible coalition to form a government with VVD and the New Social Contract (NSC), of the Christian Democrat Pieter Omtzigt, who enters Parliament with 20 seats. He also wants to govern with the support of the BBB peasant party, which would obtain 7 seats, according to the polls. “Other parties are also welcome. I will be reasonable, despite that wonderful victory,” he stressed.
He and his perky mane have been part of the Dutch political landscape for decades, where he built his career on a crusade against what he calls an “Islamic invasion” of the West. Neither his run-ins with the local justice system, which found him guilty of insulting Moroccans – whom he called “scum” – nor the death threats, which have kept him under police protection since 2004, discouraged him. “I do not regret having fought for freedom,” Wilders told the AFP news agency in an interview on the eve of the 2021 elections.
In his electoral program, Wilders includes issues such as a referendum to leave the European Union (Nexit), as well as the banning of the Koran and mosques in the Netherlands, although a few days before the elections he maintained a softer tone in his public statements. by ensuring that he will leave these issues in the background because, in his view, the country has other more important problems at the moment.
Muslim and Moroccan organizations in the Netherlands showed their concern after the electoral victory of the extreme right. “The anguish and fear are very great,” Habib el Kadouri, of the Association of Dutch-Moroccans (SMN), assured the Dutch agency ANP. “Everyone talks about social security, but I don’t know if we still have it. I don’t feel safe. We were afraid of this, but we didn’t think that the PVV could become the biggest party. We can’t do anything. Just hold on to the Constitution that mentions equality and religion as rights,” said Muhsin Köktas, from a contact body between the Muslim community and the Dutch government.
The fall of Rutte
The Netherlands held these early parliamentary elections after Prime Minister Mark Rutte announced the dissolution of the Executive in July due to discrepancies in the country’s immigration policy. “It is no secret that the coalition partners have very different opinions on immigration policy,” Rutte declared at a press conference. “Unfortunately, we have to conclude that those differences are irreconcilable. That is why I will immediately deliver to the king the resignation of the entire cabinet in writing,” added Rutte, after 13 years of management in the European country.
For months the coalition, made up of four center-right parties, was trying to reach an agreement to apply changes on migration. One of the proposals included creating two types of asylum: temporary for those fleeing armed conflicts and permanent for those fleeing persecution (for political, religious or sexual orientation reasons).
In addition, it was proposed to reduce to 200 the number of family members allowed to join asylum seekers on national territory and a two-year waiting period before they can travel to the Netherlands. However, the debates revealed ideological differences between party members, because some did not support the tough policy against migrants and others advocated more forceful measures.
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