Geert Wilders, this Wednesday at the vote in The Hague.REMKO DE WAAL (EFE)
The far right led by Geert Wilders has won the Dutch elections, according to a poll announced on public television (NOS) at 9 p.m. The People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) is estimated to have won 35 seats in a 150-seat Congress, where the majority is 76. And she won parliamentary elections for the first time. According to this survey, the Alliance between Social Democrats and Environmentalists (GroenLinks-PvdA), led by Social Democrat Frans Timmermans, is in second place with 26 MPs. Third place with 23 goes to Dilan Yesilgöz’s Liberals from the party of Prime Minister Mark Rutte (VVD), who is still in office. Pieter Omtzigt, a former Christian Democrat and leader of the center-right group New Social Contract, is in fourth place with 20 MPs. From then on, only the Left Liberals (D66) achieved 10 seats. The Farmers-Citizens Movement (BBB), which represents the agricultural sector, acquired seven. With these numbers, forming a coalition will be very difficult, as no national party has wanted to govern with Wilders.
If you count since 1945, this is the first time that the far right has won a parliamentary election in the Netherlands. It must be taken into account that these results may vary as the counting takes place overnight. The battle between liberals, progressives and the far right continued until the end of the election campaign and Wilders moderated his speech against Islam. He did not give in on immigration issues and sang the saying “Netherlands to the Dutch” on television. He assured that if he won, he would “govern for all citizens, but there are too many people coming that we cannot accommodate.”
Almost 13 million voters – out of a population of 17.8 million – had the right to choose between the 26 parties that fielded candidates. This Wednesday’s election was a different election, as many of the candidates topped their respective parties’ lists for the first time. This is the case with Omtzigt, who was previously deputy and is now the visible leader of his faction. The same applies to Dilan Yesilgöz, former Minister of Justice and former State Secretary for Economic Affairs. Both have been in Congress for years, but they have become the new faces of the election. This also applies to Timmermans, who was previously head of the foreign affairs department. After disappearing from the Dutch front page due to his last position as Vice President of the European Commission, he has returned with renewed vigor. Wilders, 60, an old acquaintance who has been in office since 2006, is also there. Caroline van der Plas, voice of agrarian populism (BBB), has held a seat since 2021. Now she has shown her true strength after the surprise that she caused She agreed to the congress two years ago.
They have all been electoral leaders at different times and, perhaps without realizing it, reflected their situation as they cast their votes. Yezilgöz, who replaced outgoing Prime Minister Mark Rutte as party leader, kept his fingers crossed for good luck. He hoped to claim victory in a close final phase in which the figure of far-right leader Geert Wilders had planned more than he expected. He agrees to talk to him, but says he doesn’t want to rule together. Smiling, Wilders voted on behalf of himself and his wife – in his case as a proxy – surrounded by bodyguards. His rejection of Islam makes him the country’s most protected politician, although he does not currently see it as a priority issue. Especially because his apparent moderation put him at the forefront of the polls. Van der Plas shouted “All or nothing” and held the voice in his hand. His group not only dominated the national political scene in the name of rural areas, but lost positions due to Omtzigt’s appeal.
The leader of the New Social Contract quickly placed the ballot in an urn that was a dumpster. It is a modality used in several polling stations across the country. Timmermans admitted that he “slept badly for the first time in the entire election campaign.” He faces a multiple dilemma: he is unwilling to reach an agreement with Wilders, he would rather not do so with the VVD, and Omtzigt seems to him “more of a controller of the executive than a ruler.” The other xenophobic leader, Thierry Baudet, who was attacked twice in recent weeks, appeared to be in good spirits. However, for security reasons, they advised him not to follow public scrutiny like his colleagues. Both government experts and his own bodyguards urged him to avoid taking risks.
Several citizens are waiting to cast their vote in the Geuzenveld-Slotermeer district this Wednesday. Pierre Crom (Getty Images)
Dilan Yesilgoz, leader of the People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy, exercises his right to vote in the Dutch elections on November 22nd. Patrick Post (AP)
A man votes at the Scheveningen Pier voting center in the Netherlands this Wednesday. REMKO DE WAAL (EFE)
Pieter Omtzigt, leader of the New Social Contract party, votes with his wife at the Museumfabriek in Enschede, the Netherlands, on November 22. SEM VAN DER WAL (EFE)
A woman prepares to vote this Wednesday in Enschede, Netherlands. Associated Press/LaPresse (APN)
Geert Wilders, leader of the Freedom Party, exercises his right to vote in the Dutch elections on Wednesday November 22nd. REMKO DE WAAL (EFE)
Forum for Democracy leader Thierry Baudet prepares to vote during the Dutch elections this Wednesday in Amsterdam. EVA PLEVIER (EFE)
Caroline van der Plas, leader of the Farmers-Citizens Movement, exercises her right to vote this Wednesday in Bathmen, Netherlands. EMIEL MUIJDERMAN (EFE)
Two citizens are preparing to vote during the elections in the Netherlands this Wednesday. PIROSCHKA VAN DE WOUW (Portal)
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The Dutch election campaign is largely based on the numerous television debates, where the leaders of the different parties come together and have the opportunity to achieve parliamentary representation. In front of the cameras, a moderator asks candidates, either in groups or in pairs, to defend their programs by comparing them to those of their opponents. There are monologues and threats of dialogue between them. Tensions arise, such as when Omtzigt Yesilgöz said that his group “the government has ignored the thousands of families affected by a child care subsidy scandal.” And there are so many close-ups and so many similar meetings that politicians end up presenting their ideas in measured doses, as if they were capsules. A well-oiled formula, but one that apparently didn’t help voters make their decision. According to the latest polls, seven out of ten Dutch people were still undecided on the eve of the vote.
In the end, immigration and asylum seem to have outweighed the problems of accommodation, social security and the cost of living. Something Wilders has referred to in his speeches on what he sees as the “burden on society” due to what he sees as excessive migrant numbers.
Security was another issue that clouded the atmosphere. Far-right leader Baudet suffered a blow in Belgium when he entered Ghent University and another in the north of the Netherlands. During the final election debate on Tuesday evening, Daniël van Duijn, leader of the LEF, a party focused on the interests of youth, burst onto television. He ran towards candidate Yesilgöz and shouted in her face. “His party must never come to power again.” Van Duijn was chased away by security personnel and spent the night in the cell. He is prohibited from following congressional oversight. Everything happened very quickly and the evening continued without further comment after his eye-catching appearance. However, the truth is that the security breach was also opened in the presence of the politicians who wanted to rule the country.
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