Dutch elections: back to the centre with Jetten?
After almost all the ballots had been counted in the Dutch parliamentary election, Rob Jetten's left-liberal D66 and right-wing populist Geert Wilders' PVV were almost neck and neck. Jetten, 38, whose party almost tripled its number of seats from 9 to 26, is widely seen as the winner and next prime minister. Europe's press draws lessons for dealing with right-wing populists.
Break through the political paralysis
NRC concludes:
“After a failed experiment with the far-right PVV in government, voters have decided to give the political centre another chance. ... With two coalition options on the table and potential differences of opinion between the parties, forming a government could be more complicated than had been hoped. ... The first major task for D66 leader Jetten will be to show that he can break through the political paralysis from a renewed and strengthened centre.”
Optimistic and ambitious
De Morgen explains Jetten's winning strategy:
“The lead candidate of the social-liberal D66 party showed himself to be a good speaker during the election campaign. With a large dose of optimism, he asserted himself against the pessimistic world view of far-right PVV leader Geert Wilders. Jetten resolutely declared his ambition to beat Wilders. In his campaign speeches he posed in front of a large Dutch flag, declaring his intention of 'reclaiming' it. And Jetten was able to successfully steer his party in terms of content as well as tone and style. ... He strategically positioned himself in the centre and was thus able to appeal to the voters of the centre-right parties.”
Voters want concrete solutions
For SRF's EU correspondent Charles Liebherr the situation is clear:
“The political chaos of the last two years has left its mark: the majority of voters now expect concrete proposals for solutions to the ongoing housing shortage, ways to curb labour migration, and how to make agriculture more environmentally friendly. ... Voters have had enough of solutions that are unfeasible or violate the rule of law. That's why they're sidelining the right-wing populist Wilders. At least for the time being.”
Advance of the right is not a law of nature
Handelsblatt welcomes the result:
“The election shows that the seemingly unstoppable success of right-wing populist parties in Europe is not a law of nature. On the contrary. ... It's largely thanks to the success of Jetten and - to a lesser extent - of Christian Democrat Henri Bontenbal that Wilders suffered such heavy losses. They show that a combination of clear, anti-populist rhetoric and a more restrictive migration policy can bring success against right-wing populists.”
Wilders remains a major force
Polityka draws mixed conclusions:
“On the one hand, the Netherlands has shown that populist right-wing parties can perform poorly in government and disappoint voters. On the other hand, Wilders still secured [at least] second place. It's therefore worth returning to the conclusion drawn by Dutch political scientist Cas Mudde in his essay: economic incompetence and the failure to implement programmes do not necessarily lead to voters showing a party the red card at the ballot box. In these times of purely performative politics, limited to narratives and devoid of any vision beyond individual terms of office, everything starts anew with each election.”