Wilders suspects that the PVV no longer had much of a chance of governing. “During the campaign, it was all about the PVV with the story that other parties did not want to govern with us. I think that made a number of voters think: then I will vote for a party that can govern. You can also see that, for example, JA21 has achieved results with that.”
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Bad feeling
Wilders’ campaign had exceptional circumstances, even for him. The PVV leader even briefly disappeared from the scene after a terrorist threat from Belgium and ‘a bad feeling’ about it. But when the polls took a dip, Wilders picked up the thread again.
He chose the easy way: he only showed up in PVV strongholds Venlo and Volendam. He avoided major interviews. Nevertheless, Wilders himself believes that he ‘campaigned well’. But: “Maybe not as extreme as other parties or as previous times, but I still did it to a considerable extent.”
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Because of that less active campaign, Wilders only had to bare his buttocks in the debates and answer for the failed Schoof cabinet. Opponents eagerly sought his shins. “What have you achieved? Signs? Ribbons?” sneered CDA party leader Henri Bontenbal. VVD leader Dilan Yesilgöz called the PVV “one man with a Twitter account.” Wilders, not used to being on the defensive, hit back: “The more often they shout that, the bigger we become.”
Cheerful
Despite this cheerful attitude, the PVV gradually sank in the polls and gave up a large lead. Yet the party still claimed to become the largest in the latest polls.
Wilders did not completely give up hope on Wednesday evening: “We are still talking about exit polls and it is all very close. If they drop one and we rise one, we could easily become the largest party. It has not yet been said that Mr Jetten will be the next Prime Minister of the Netherlands.” If Wilders does become the largest, he will ‘try’ to form a cabinet, he said.
The fact that it seemed for a long time that the PVV would remain the largest caused discomfort among other parties. Because what kind of message do you give the voter if you immediately exclude the party that they have made the largest? There is a chance that Wilders will first put forward a scout, so that it can at least be publicly concluded that a cabinet with the PVV will not be formed.
Wilders said he does not think he made a ‘wrong decision’ by leaving the Schoof cabinet. “We left the cabinet because we felt that the agreements had not been fulfilled, so I do not regret that. I knew that this could be the consequence of that.”