Right-wing populist number 1 - What's going on in the Netherlands?
Geert Wilders, the only member of his "Partij voor de Vrijheid", cannot believe his triumph. When the first Dutch television forecast announced his sensational election victory on Wednesday evening, he put his hands to his face. "35!" he shouts. 35 seats in parliament - in the end it will be 37 for the Party for Freedom.
The result is "historic", according to the media on Thursday. There is great shock in parts of Dutch society. "I am deeply ashamed - even a little bit ashamed of being Dutch," said a citizen from Enschede on television. Muhsin Köktas, chairman of a Muslim association, says that Muslims are now afraid that they will no longer be allowed to practise their religion freely. After all, Wilders has been insisting on a ban on the Koran and the closure of all mosques for 20 years.
Even foreign countries can't believe their eyes. Holland - didn't it once stand for flower power and the "tender feeling" sung about by chansonnier Herman van Veen? Wasn't it once the country where Germans in particular felt they could breathe more freely? Because everything is a little more relaxed and tolerant?
Right-wing populists have been around for 20 years
This image has probably only ever applied to the capital Amsterdam. More than 20 years ago, there was a strong shift to the right when sociology professor Pim Fortuyn became the first populist to take off. Shortly before his predicted landslide victory in the 2002 parliamentary elections, he was shot dead by a militant animal rights activist in a parking lot. His party then disintegrated and disappeared into oblivion.
Fortuyn's legacy was taken up by another right-wing populist, a man with a platinum-blonde hairstyle and the dialect of his home town of Venlo: Geert Wilders. He used a simple trick to prevent chaos like Fortuyn's party: To this day, he is the only member of his PVV party. Followers can only register as sympathizers or supporters.
Since its first participation in an election in 2006, the PVV has always been a permanent fixture in the party landscape and a strong force in parliament in The Hague. But why has it suddenly become so big now?
Migration as the number 1 election issue
There was one topic that dominated the election campaign: migration. All parties on the right outdid each other with promises to reduce asylum numbers. "Our country is full", they said. The impression was often created that the newcomers were the main cause of the existing housing shortage. The fact is that the country, with a population of around 18 million, is one of the most densely populated in the world. Last year, 224,000 migrants arrived, but only a minority of these, around 46,000, were asylum seekers and their families. The rest consisted of migrant workers and foreign students.
Rutte's successor makes Wilders socially acceptable
Another reason for Wilders' election victory is likely to have been the overtures made by the previously largest party, the right-wing liberal People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD). Outgoing Prime Minister Mark Rutte had always ruled out working with Wilders. Also because of his own bad experience. Rutte's first cabinet, a minority government, was tolerated by Wilders, but then failed prematurely due to his unwillingness to compromise. Since then, Rutte had lost all trust in him.
However, his successor as VVD leader, Dilan Yesilgöz, wanted to position herself much more to the right than Rutte and therefore changed course. Right at the start of the election campaign, she declared that she did not want to rule out Wilders as a coalition partner. This sent out the message: Wilders now has a real chance of government participation for the first time. Yesilgöz had made Wilders "socially acceptable", said a TV commentator using the German term. Suddenly there were no longer any inhibitions about publicly coming out as a Wilders fan.
After 13 years under the right-wing liberal Rutte, Wilders is "new politics" for many voters. Rutte's long-term government is also held responsible for the plight of the healthcare system, for increasing poverty and for several affairs and scandals in recent years. Wilders, on the other hand, uses one-liners such as: "The Dutch must be number 1 again."
Timmermans' emotional speech comes too late
But other leading candidates must also ask themselves whether they have done everything right. For example, former EU Commissioner Frans Timmermans gave an emotional speech to his Green and Social Democrat supporters on election night, calling on the Dutch to "defend democracy". However, he immediately faced criticism as to why he had not done so earlier.
The threat to democracy and the rule of law posed by Wilders was hardly ever discussed during the election campaign - not even by the media, who have long treated the far-right politician as a normal politician. Anything else would be elitist and undemocratic, they say. It is a political maxim in the Netherlands that "everyone should be on board".
What will become of the EU relationship and the Ukraine aid?
The big challenge for Wilders now is to win over other parties as coalition partners. This seems difficult, but by no means impossible. Both Yesilgöz and the second winner of the election evening, the former Christian Democrat Pieter Omtzigt, are open to talks. All parties must now "jump over their shadows", said Omtzigt, who founded his own party "New Social Contract" just two months ago. As a result, he won 20 of the 150 parliamentary seats in the election in one fell swoop. And the protest party Bauernbürgerbewegung BBB also wants to govern with the right-winger.
The times in which the Netherlands was one of the closest partners within the European Union, even for the German government, could soon be over. It is true that the "Nexit" sought by Wilders - a British-style exit from the EU - cannot be achieved with the other parties. But in many areas, the Netherlands would take a different course in future with Wilders as head of government. For example, he rejects climate protection and also wants to drastically reduce aid to Ukraine.
All of this will be closely observed in Germany and is likely to set alarm bells ringing in some quarters. The often-heard reassurance that good poll ratings for extreme parties do not mean that people will actually vote that way has turned out to be wishful thinking, at least in the Netherlands.
Parliament will likely need to consider the implications of Geert Wilders' election victory and potential coalition negotiations. The results of these elections have raised concerns about the future of the EU relationship and aid to Ukraine due to Wilders' stance on these issues.
Source: www.dpa.com
