Anti-Islam Party PVV Of Wilders Wins Dutch Elections

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News

THE HAGUE (Worthy News) – The Anti-Islam Party for Freedom (PVV) of Geert Wilders, who strongly supports Israel, has won the Dutch elections in a major shakeup of the Netherlands’ political scene, exit polls show.

The exit polls gave him 35 seats in the 150-seat parliament. “We are the biggest party in the Netherlands. We make sure the Dutch will be number one again. I thank everybody. There are more than two million people who voted for the PVV.”

He added: “No party can ignore us any longer after we got 35 seats,” he declared.

Migration, growing poverty, climate change concerns, and a new style of governance were significant themes in the campaign.

Exit polls showed Wilders’ Party for Freedom with the most seats, followed by the Green-Labour alliance, led by Frans Timmermans, with 25 seats.

The People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), led by Dilan Yeşilgöz-Zegerius, got 24 seats, according to the exit polling.

Timmermans, the former European Union’s climate change heavyweight known for rolling out the controversial Green Deal for the EU, expressed concerns about the PVV victory. “We want the Netherlands to remain open for those fleeing war and persecution.”

NEW SOCIAL CONTRACT

New Social Contract (NSC), a three-month-old party founded by the campaigning former Christian Democrat (CDA) legislator Pieter Omtzigt, finished fourth with a projected 20 seats.

The liberal-progressive D66 was on track for 10. Caroline van der Plas, leader of the Farmer–Citizen Movement (BBB), said she is happy with the seven seats won and that with the party’s 16 senate seats, “no one can ignore us anymore.”

However, “We didn’t listen enough to the people. I congratulate Geert Wilders,” said Dilan Yesilgoz, leader of the VVD party and successor to Mark Rutte, one of Europe’s longest-serving government leaders.

Born in Turkey, it had been a long way for the charismatic 46-year-old who arrived in the Netherlands at the age of eight with her dissident parents fleeing persecution.

She had hoped to make history as the first woman and first person with a migrant background to become prime minister.

Yet radical rightwing figures across Europe, from Hungary’s Viktor Orbán to France’s Marine Le Pen, congratulated Wilders.

Orbán, who knows Wilders well and whose government gave him an award last year, said, “The winds of change are here.” No no

LE PEN

French far-right politician Le Pen praised Orban’s “spectacular performance.”

Alternative for Germany is also celebrating the Dutch exit polls. “Everywhere in Europe, citizens want political change,” the German far-right party wrote on social media.

The Austrian Freedom Party’s Harald Vilimsky said, “our political partners and friends are ahead almost everywhere.”

Yet, Muhsin Köktas of the Contact Body for Muslims and Government (CMO) wondered whether Muslims still have a future in the Netherlands. “Everyone is talking about social security, but I don’t know if we still have it,” he said. Köktas stressed that it “confirms the growing attachment to the defense of national identities.”

Elections were held amid concerns about the security of outspoken politicians. Ahead of the ballot, questions remained about two violent attacks on a nationalist leader who had been critical about migration, climate change, the war in Ukraine, and perceived LGBTQ+ propaganda among children.

Thierry Baudet, leader of the radical rightwing party Forum voor Democratie (Forum for Democracy), was taken to hospital in Groningen this week after he was hit on the head several times by someone wielding a beer bottle.

It was the second physical attack on Baudet within a month. In late October, Baudet was hit on the head with an umbrella as he arrived at a meeting at the University of Ghent, Belgium.

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