Dutch Voters Move to the Right

 By Henry Srebrnik, [Saint John, N.B.] Telegraph-Journal

Wars have political consequences, even in countries not directly involved. It may be no coincidence that the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel and the subsequence war have led to voters in Europe becoming more wary of large-scale immigration from non-western countries.

The most dramatic evidence of this comes from the Nov. 22 national election in the Netherlands. Geert Wilders’ Party for Freedom (PVV) rode a last-minute surge in opinion polls to win by far the most seats in the lower house of parliament with 37 out of 150. The turnout was close to 78 per cent of the electorate.

An alliance of the Green Left and Labour parties (GL/PvdA) came second with 25 seats, followed by the centre-right People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) of outgoing Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte with 24. A new centrist party with Christian Democrat roots, the New Social Contract (NSC), came in fourth with 20 seats.

The surprise victory had a lot to do with last-minute competition between the PVV and VVD for the right-of-centre vote. A week before the balloting, Wilders was polling fourth at around 13 per cent, but went on to gain 23.6 per cent in the final poll, and the party increased its seat total by 20. The VVD, at 15. 2 per cent, was down by 6.7 per cent and lost 10 seats.

The PVV’s platform called for a referendum on the country’s European Union membership and an end to blanket freedom of movement for EU workers. It wants to cancel the overseas aid budget, cut taxes and EU funding and reduce the number of foreign students coming in. It also wants an end to military support for Ukraine.

The party seeks a complete stop to providing asylum for refugees, by withdrawing from the 1951 United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, as well as the reinstatement of border controls. This year alone, the Netherlands’ Immigration and Naturalization Service (IND) expects up to 77,000 asylum applications.

Addressing cheering supporters in The Hague after the results came in, Wilders doubled down on his anti-immigrant rhetoric, saying the Dutch had voted to stem the “'tsunami” of asylum-seekers.

A Euroskeptic, Wilders has built a career from his self-appointed mission to stop an “Islamic invasion” of Europe. In 2008 he caused protests in the Muslim world for a short online film which showed verses of the Qu’ran next to images of extreme violence and terrorism. Muslims make up around five per cent of the Dutch population of almost 18 million people.

Wilders seeks a ban on Islamic schools, Qur’ans, mosques, and hijab headscarves in government buildings. As for his stand on the Israel-Hamas war, Wilders has suggested that Palestinians should be relocated to Jordan.

“There has been an independent Palestinian state since 1946: the Kingdom of Jordan,” he wrote on X (Twitter) in October. This refers to the fact its territory was initially administered as part of the British Mandate of Palestine before being established as the Emirate of Transjordan.

But he also campaigned on battling the Dutch housing crisis and improving health services. The cost-of-living issue has resonated with a growing population of newly poorer people who want someone to acknowledge their insecurity. The PVV manifesto ends with a promise of a government that will “put the Dutch back at number one!”

 Wilders is not certain to end up as prime minister since he’ll need to cobble together a multi-party coalition of 76 seats. Dilan Yeşilgoz-Zegerius, the new VVD leader, who is herself of Kurdish-Turkish descent, announced that, while not formally joining a coalition, her party would be prepared to play a constructive role in supporting a minority Wilders government. Wilders called the decision “extremely disappointing.”

As for the NSC, the party’s centrist leader, Pieter Omtzigt, said he couldn’t accept “unconstitutional” policies. (Wilders pledged not to enact any policies that would breach Dutch law or the constitution.)

Should any of this have been so surprising? Months before the election, there was discontent within the ranks of the ruling VVD itself, with members openly challenging Prime Minister Mark Rutte for hesitating on the delivery of a more robust immigration policy. 

On June 1st, a letter co-signed by “Klassiek Liberaal”, a rightist wing of the VVD, was sent out. It spoke of a “catastrophe,” the scale of which was “unprecedented,” should the issue not be dealt with.

Right-wing nationalists across Europe rushed to congratulate Wilders. Hungary’ prime minister Viktor Orban welcomed the news. “The winds of change are here,” he wrote on X. “A new Europe is possible, “remarked Matteo Salvini, Italy’s deputy prime minister and head of the anti-immigration Northern League party.

Marine Le Pen, leader of the National Rally in France, said that the result “confirms the growing attachment to the defence of national identities.” She also declared that “more and more countries at the heart of the EU are contesting the way it works.” They “want us to master immigration, which is seen by many European peoples as massive and totally anarchic.”

 

The PVV can no longer be ignored, Wilders insisted. “We will govern.” Whether or not he becomes prime minister, Europeans will be hearing a lot more from Wilders in the weeks to come as a new Dutch government is built