The Parliament of Netherlands opened its new legislature this Wednesday under the rule of the far rightthe force with the most votes in the elections held two weeks ago, although still far from achieving the majority that its leader needs, Geert Wilders to become prime minister. The call Freedom Party (PVV) de Wilders has 37 of the 150 seats in the Hague House. But so far he only has the declared support of the minority and populist Farmers Party (BBB), with six seats.
The two conservative formations that Wilders first tested, the liberals of the outgoing prime minister Mark Rutte and the new centrist formation NSC, with 24 and 20 seats, respectively, are not willing to support him. Rutte, who last summer precipitated the call for early elections by announcing his withdrawal, has passed the reins of the party from him to the Minister of Justice, Dilan Yesilgöz. This policy, daughter of refugees but representative of hard line against immigration, has refused to enter a government with Wilders, although he could support a minority executive chaired by the so-called “Dutch Trump.” The NSC at the moment does not support any option that gives the key to power to Wilders.
The extreme right rose against the odds as the first force in the elections of November 22, followed by the bloc between social democrats and greens of the former vice president of the European Commission, Frans Timmermans. Therefore, Wilders has the first task of trying to form a government. His party already had experience as an executive’s partner in The Hague in Rutte’s first two years in power. The breakup of the coalition was followed by a close rivalry, both personally and politically, between the far-right leader and the liberal prime minister, who vetoed him as a partner in all of his subsequent executives.
Political fragmentation complicates the search for allies
That Wilders does not yet have the partners he needs comes to pass in The Hague without too much surprise. It is remembered that Rutte needed until 271 days in its last legislature to achieve the support it needed, which is mainly due to the very fragmented Dutch parliamentary spectrum, with a total of 14 parties for the 150 seats in the chamber. Rutte’s aspirations to succeed the Norwegian are known Jens Stoltenberg as secretary general of the NATObut for the moment he is committed to remaining in office for as long as necessary until the formation of the next government.
The search for partners got off to a bad start, since the first mediator between the potential allies, from Wilders’ far-right party, resigned without having yet formally begun his task amid accusations of corruption. The position of mediator has now passed to social democrat Ronald Plasterk, who for now has asked for time and caution in his work of probing the parties.
Declared Islamophobia
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Wilders, 60, is an established leader among the European far-right family. For more than 20 years he has been looking for his opportunity to seize power and, at the same time, seeking the ultra vote with positions that have earned him accusations of inciting violence.
His party is one-man and includes more than controversial and unconstitutional aspects, such as the closure of mosques and the banning of the Koran. But since his unexpected victory he has somewhat smoothed over his programmatic rough edges. Despite his declared Islamophobia, he no longer considers his plans against the Muslim community as objectives of his future government. Precisely the possible unconstitutionality of some of his proclamations is what distances the leader from the centrist NSC, Pieter Omtzigtto get involved in a government alliance with the far-right leader.