Far-right leader Geert Wilders won the most votes in the Dutch general election on Wednesday, by an overwhelming margin, according to an exit poll.
Geert Wilders will be in the best position to lead negotiations to form a new coalition and thus become Mark Rutte’s successor as prime minister.
The exit poll, published by national broadcaster NOS, reported that Wilders’ Freedom Party (PVV) won 35 seats in the lower house of Parliament, with 150 seats, more than double the 17 it won in the last elections.
The left-wing alliance Frans Timmermans is in second place with 26 seats, while the right-wing liberal VVD party won 23 seats, according to the survey.
If the final results confirm it, Wilders’ victory will mark a sudden turn to the right that will be greeted with apprehension in Brussels: the PVV has promised, in particular, a referendum on the Netherlands’ accession to the European Union (EU). .
“It may not be what other parties in Europe or other countries are looking for, but this is democracy,” the 60-year-old politician stressed in the afternoon, after voting.
His anti-immigration message, which includes closing borders and deporting illegal immigrants, appears to have resonated with Dutch voters.
Although Wilders is preparing to triumph at the polls, it is not certain that he will be able to form a government coalition.
The leaders of the other three main parties have guaranteed that they will not participate in a coalition led by the PVV.
Kate Parker, of the Economist Intelligence Unit, warned that this situation would lead to a “constitutional impasse” in the EU’s fifth largest economy, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.
Without hesitating to call Moroccans “scum” or to propose caricature contests of the Prophet Muhammad, Wilders built his career on a crusade against what he calls the “Islamic invasion” of the West.
Neither the problems with the Dutch judicial system, which found him guilty of insulting Moroccans, nor the death threats against him, which have kept him under police protection since 2004, have discouraged him.
Wilders, who attempted to tone down some of his populist rhetoric and focus on other voter concerns, ended up exceeding expectations.
There are “more important problems than combating the flood of asylum seekers and immigrants,” he stressed during one of the last election debates, adding that he was willing to put aside his views on Islam to govern.
If immigration remains the central issue of the campaign, the Dutch are even more concerned about “knowing if they still have money in their wallets,” he insisted.
The PVV leader assured reporters in The Hague after voting that he will be prime minister for “everyone in the Netherlands, regardless of their religion, origin, sex or anything else.”
But the PVV manifesto maintained the xenophobic tone that is its “trademark.”
Proposed anti-immigration measures include reinstating border controls, detaining and deporting illegal immigrants, returning Syrian asylum seekers and reintroducing work permits for workers within the EU.
Regarding Islam, the PVV manifesto says: “The Netherlands is not an Islamic country. There are no Islamic schools, no Koran and no mosques.”
Wilders, who participated today in her sixth election, intends to ban the wearing of veils, like those worn by Muslim women, in government buildings.
More than 13.3 million citizens were called to choose, among 26 parties, the groups that will form the next government coalition in the Netherlands, where a new era will begin after 13 years of liberal mandates by Mark Rutte.
Source: TSF
