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It’s Not Just Trump: What Islamophobes’ Victory in Dutch Election Says About Far Right’s Resurgence

November 25, 2023 | FlaglerLive | 4 Comments

Geert Wilders’ Party for Freedom has a plurality in the Dutch parliament. (thierry ehrmann/Flickr)
Geert Wilders’ Party for Freedom has a plurality in the Dutch parliament. (thierry ehrmann/Flickr)

By Catherine de Vries

The results of the Dutch election, in which Geert Wilders’ Party for Freedom emerged as victors, have sent shockwaves through the political establishment.

For the first time in Dutch history, a party of the extreme right is the largest in the national parliament. Wilders is an eccentric politician known for his inflammatory rhetoric. He advocates the Netherlands leaving the European Union and has called Islam a “fascist” religion. In a 2016 trial, he was found guilty of inciting discrimination (but received no penalty for the crime).




While polling leading up to the election had suggested that Party for Freedom could become the largest party, it had appeared to be running practically neck and neck with the parties of the mainstream left and right. But the polls were wide of the mark and Wilders ended up taking the most seats by a comfortable margin, even if he will need to seek coalition partners to form a government.

Rightwing newcomers the New Social Contract also did very well. Like Party for Freedom, this party sees immigration as one of the reasons for problems such as the Netherlands’ congested public services and lack of affordable housing. However, Pieter Omtzigt, the New Social Contract’s leader (and a former member of parliament for the more centre-right Christian Democratic Party), is critical of some of Wilders’ more inflammatory rhetoric.

Omtzigt would nevertheless seem the most likely candidate to form a coalition with Wilders, together with the former party of the now-departed prime minister, Mark Rutte. But it will be some time before it’s clear if such a partnership is achievable. Coalition in the Netherlands is the work of months rather than weeks.




These talks will be all the more complex thanks to Wilders’ personal profile. He may hold the greatest number of seats, but the controversy that has surrounded him for so many years may yet rule him out of the role of prime minister, even were he to be part of a governing coalition.

Should a coalition be formed, questions about the Netherlands’ place in the EU will inevitably come to the fore. Wilders wants a Brexit-style referendum and, even if this doesn’t materialise, we can expect him to bring a more Eurosceptic stance to any government in which he participates.

This could have considerable consequences for the EU. Even when extreme-right parties in Europe differ on the question of exit, they agree on transforming the EU into a more intergovernmental body, taking power away from Brussels.

An example from Italy

Wilders will be conscious of how the Italian elections played out last year for Italy’s prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, with whom he shares a certain ideological affinity. Meloni’s radical-right Brothers of Italy emerged as the strongest force in the 2022 vote and formed a coalition with other parties of the right and hard right.

Like Wilders, Meloni was seen as a political outsider and has long put immigration at the heart of political debate. But since coming to power, her strong anti-immigration rhetoric has had to be simmered down. She was quickly confronted with calls from the business community to address Italy’s labour shortage, which meant granting permits for migrant workers.




In my book Political Entrepreneurs, co-authored with Sara Hobolt from the London School of Economics, we show that governing changes political parties. It is relatively easy to gripe from the sidelines but in government, parties bear responsibility for policy. They have to make decisions, weigh up interests – and can only spend money once. Meloni, like the leaders of so many other populist parties, quickly lost her sharp edge once she became the person in charge.

Most notably for Wilders, the Brothers of Italy had also campaigned with a Eurosceptic tone during the election, but can now be found walking in lockstep with Brussels even on matters relating to immigration. Meloni has even made a show of her closeness with European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen.

That said, the Italian experience also offers another example that Wilders may find appealing. In our research, we’ve found that parties that have become popular by opposing existing politics sometimes prefer to keep one foot in the government and one foot out. This is certainly the case for Matteo Salvini, leader of the Lega party and a junior coalition partner to Meloni.

Salvini never misses an opportunity to boost his own profile, even if it causes his government difficulty. Only a junior coalition partner can get away with such antics, since a prime minister faces far more pressure. Wilders may therefore find it most convenient to follow Salvini’s path rather than Meloni’s.

Whichever route he takes, if Wilders becomes part of a government, the results of these elections are certain to have consequences for Dutch relations with the rest of Europe.

Catherine de Vries is Professor of Political Science, Fellow and member of the Management Council of the Institute for European Policymaking, Bocconi University

The Conversation arose out of deep-seated concerns for the fading quality of our public discourse and recognition of the vital role that academic experts could play in the public arena. Information has always been essential to democracy. It’s a societal good, like clean water. But many now find it difficult to put their trust in the media and experts who have spent years researching a topic. Instead, they listen to those who have the loudest voices. Those uninformed views are amplified by social media networks that reward those who spark outrage instead of insight or thoughtful discussion. The Conversation seeks to be part of the solution to this problem, to raise up the voices of true experts and to make their knowledge available to everyone. The Conversation publishes nightly at 9 p.m. on FlaglerLive.
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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Laurel says

    November 26, 2023 at 5:30 pm

    It’s really sad to see that this far right, nationalism, populism, is spreading hate around the world. It’s especially sad to see it here in the United States. Humans tend to do things in waves. Hopefully, this wave of hate with pass quickly.

  2. Pogo says

    November 26, 2023 at 6:29 pm

    @Déjà vu
    https://www.google.com/search?q=european+feudal+era

  3. joe says

    November 27, 2023 at 11:40 am

    There is only ONE issue that matters from here on:
    (From Josh Marshall, Talking Points Memo)
    WHAT MATTERS MOST
    The rule of law is on the ballot in 2024, and it trumps every other political and policy consideration.
    It is the umbrella under which every other issue is addressed: Want to restore abortion rights? Want to openly debate Israel and Palestine? Want to accelerate the energy revolution to head off the worst of climate change?

    Good luck. Because if Trump, as promised, harnesses the power of the federal government to attack his perceived political enemies, exact retribution for slights, overturn elections, eviscerate the right to vote, and continue the effort to lock in GOP minority rule, he will break the democratic mechanisms for adjudicating policy preferences, enacting new laws, and enforcing them.

    Trump is promising a fundamental break with the rule of law and from that will flow a fundamental breakdown in democratic processes and institutions. It is as simple as it is hard to stay at maximum threat level for years on end.

    If elections don’t count, if Trump and the GOP won’t accept defeat as an option, if a majority of the electorate can’t make its voice heard at the ballot box, then nothing else really matters. It’s as stark a choice as the United States has ever faced.”

  4. Laurel says

    November 27, 2023 at 1:52 pm

    Yes, Trump has systematically broken down rule of law, a balanced system between parties, belief in our own agencies, the belief in voting, and is dehumanizing humans. Now he wants to terminate the Constitution, all of this for his personal benefit. The Republican politicians who will not stand up to him are afraid of him, and want the power it brings to them by standing with him. Again, for personal benefit, not for the benefit of our country. They are selfish and shameless.

    DeSantis is no better.

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