From Le Figaro with AFP
Published 58 minutes ago, updated 1 minute ago
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“We can no longer be ignored,” said Geert Wilders, a member of the Freedom Party.
Polls suggest Geert Wilders’ far-right Dutch party won parliamentary elections on Wednesday (November 22) – a political earthquake that will be felt far beyond the Netherlands’ borders. According to Ipos polls, the PVV (Freedom Party) won 35 seats and a comfortable election victory. Frans Timmermans’ left-wing alliance is in second place with 26 seats. The center-right VVD party won 23 seats, according to the poll.
Geert Wilders called on other Dutch parties to work together to form a coalition and stressed that his party PVV (Freedom Party) “can no longer be ignored”. “The Dutch hope that the people can take back their country and that we ensure that the tsunami of asylum seekers and immigration is contained,” he told his enthusiastic supporters in The Hague.
If the final result is confirmed, Geert Wilders’ victory will mark a sudden shift to the right that will be greeted with concern in Brussels: the PVV has promised in particular a referendum on the Netherlands’ accession to the European Union. “It may not be what other parties in Europe or other countries are looking for, but hey, that’s democracy,” the 60-year-old politician said after the vote.
His anti-immigrant message, which includes closing borders and deporting illegal immigrants, appears to have resonated with Dutch voters. But if Mr Wilders appears to have triumphed in the polls, it is not certain he will be able to form a governing coalition. The leaders of the three other major parties have assured that they will not take part in a coalition led by the PVV. Kate Parker of the Economist Intelligence Unit said this would lead to a “constitutional impasse” in the EU’s fifth-largest economy.
Read alsoNetherlands: Timmermans, the “green pope” who is closely linked to realpolitik
“Attack”
Geert Wilders has been active in the Dutch political landscape for decades. He built his career fighting what he calls an “Islamic invasion” of the West. Neither the problems with the Dutch justice system, which found him guilty of insulting Moroccans, nor the death threats against him, which have kept him under police protection since 2004, have discouraged him. “I don’t regret fighting for freedom,” Geerts Wilders told AFP in an interview on the eve of the 2021 elections. “Of course I’m taking a stand, I’m under attack, my country is under attack.”
Geerts Wilders, who tried to tone down some of his populist rhetoric and focus on other voters’ concerns, ultimately exceeded expectations. There are “more important issues than fighting the flood of asylum seekers and immigrants,” he said in a recent election debate, adding that he was willing to give up his views on Islam in order to govern. Even if immigration remains a central theme of the campaign, the Dutch are even more worried about “whether they have more money in their wallets,” he emphasized. He promised to focus more on “security and health care” than on his opposition to Islam. He assured journalists in The Hague after the vote that he would be prime minister for “everyone in the Netherlands, regardless of their religion, their origin, their gender or anything else.”
“Next”
But the PVV manifesto retained its characteristic tone. “Asylum seekers enjoy delicious free buffets on cruise ships while Dutch families have to cut back on shopping,” the manifesto says. Proposed anti-immigrant measures include reintroducing Dutch border controls, detaining and deporting illegal immigrants, deporting Syrian asylum seekers and reintroducing work permits for workers within the EU. Regarding Islam, the PVV manifesto states: “The Netherlands is not an Islamic country. No schools, Korans and Islamic mosques. He proposes banning the wearing of headscarves in government buildings.
In foreign policy, the country advocates a “Netherlands first” approach that includes closing its mission in Ramallah and strengthening ties with Israel, including moving its embassy to Jerusalem. A “binding referendum” on a “Nexit” – the Netherlands’ exit from the EU – is also on the agenda, as is an “immediate end” to development aid. Geerts Wilders was taking part in the election for the sixth time, having failed to pull off an upset on several occasions. “When I left my old party (the VVD) (…), I said that one day we will become the largest party,” Geerts Wilders told journalists during the vote.
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