Dutch election: how well will Wilders do?
The Netherlands is holding a snap general election on Wednesday after Dick Schoof's four-party right-wing government collapsed in June in a row over asylum law. According to polls, the PVV led by far-right politician Geert Wilders is set to become the strongest party again, but its previous coalition partners are no longer willing to work with it.
No obligation to work with the winner
Several parties are saying they won't work with Wilders this time round. Rightly so, says De Volkskrant:
“Every seat in parliament carries the same weight. ... Even if Wilders' party becomes the largest faction on Wednesday, but a large majority refuses to work with him, that stance would be completely legitimate in democratic terms ... After a year and a half of experimenting with the lame-duck Dick Schoof, we can safely conclude that a prime minister with his own political profile and a solid electoral mandate - larger than Wilders' - is crucial for the effectiveness of a new government and the country's image abroad.”
Fuelling fear and anger
Wilders has brought about a radical shift in the political discourse, Le Soir concludes:
“Is bringing the far right to power the best strategy for destroying it? This idea is sometimes floated, but the Netherlands has demonstrated just how ineffective and dangerous it can be. ... Geert Wilders has succeeded in spreading his ideas beyond his own voter base. Under 'his' government, migration issues have dominated the political agenda and had a lasting impact on Dutch politics. Today, most parties are promising to limit immigration in their election campaigns. ... In addition, the PVV has shifted the boundaries of what is politically acceptable. ... Geert Wilders has painted a bleak, almost apocalyptic image of a country in decline, and stigmatised certain sections of the population, using them as convenient scapegoats. In doing so, he has fuelled fear and anger.”
Fend off attack on democracy this time
Wilders has been poisoning the political debate for over a decade, political commentator Tom-Jan Meeus explains in NRC:
“The whole package - the cheering on of the autocrat Orbán, the normalisation of the Great Replacement [conspiracy] theory, the undermining of parliament, the calls for resistance, the repetition of propaganda - has contributed to the destabilisation of democracy since the end of 2015. ... It's one of the big questions of 2025: will the centrist parties succeed in fending off Wilders' attack on liberal democracy? The attack he began in 2015 and has continued ever since with the discipline of an accomplished propagandist?”