Far-right leader Geert Wilders wins Dutch election: Exit poll

 

Far-right leader Geert Wilders wins Dutch election: Exit poll

 

Wilders wants to ban mosques and leave the EU. ‘Voters are fed up,’ he says.

 

BY ELINE SCHAART, PIETER HAECK AND JAKOB HANKE VELA

NOVEMBER 22, 2023 9:17 PM CET

https://www.politico.eu/article/far-right-leader-geert-wilders-wins-dutch-election-exit-poll/

 

The anti-Islam, euroskeptic radical Geert Wilders is projected to be the shock winner of the Dutch election.

 

In a dramatic result that will stun European politics, his Freedom Party (PVV) is set to win around 35 of the 150 seats in parliament — more than double the number it won in the 2021 election, according to exit polls.

 

Frans Timmermans’ Labor-Green alliance came second, winning 25 seats — a big jump from its current 17. Dilan Yeşilgöz, outgoing premier Mark Rutte’s successor as head of the center-right VVD, suffered heavy losses and is on course to win 24 seats, 10 fewer than before, according to the updated exit poll by Ipsos for national broadcaster NOS.

 

A win for Wilders will put the Netherlands on track — potentially — for a dramatic shift in direction, after Rutte’s four consecutive centrist governments. The question now, though, is whether any other parties are willing to join Wilders to form a coalition, given that despite emerging as the largest party, he will lack an overall majority in parliament.

 

To the soundtrack of Rocky, Wilders greeted his supporters in a cafe on the Dutch coast with a big smile. “The voters have spoken tonight and they have said that they are fed up,” he said.

 

“We are going to make sure that Dutch voters will be put first again,” he said in a classic PVV speech, saying that the party wants to work toward curbing the “asylum tsunami,” putting more money in people’s wallets and better security.

 

He extended a hand to other parties, saying that now it’s time to work together and come up with answers. Wilders suggested he would be willing to compromise on his anti-Muslim ideals for the sake of entering government. “I understand very well that parties do not want to be in a government with a party that wants unconstitutional measures,” he said. “We are not going to talk about mosques, Korans and Islamic schools.”

 

Wilders’ anti-Islam rhetoric was a clear part of the PVV’s program for government. The party proposed to ban mosques and the Quran, and forbid Islamic headscarves in government buildings. Wilders is also a hardline euroskeptic, who has called for a so-called “Nexit” referendum on leaving the EU.

 

“This exit poll is historic; it is the biggest shift we have ever seen in the Netherlands,” political scientist Tom van der Meer told national broadcaster NOS.

 

According to Van der Meer, three things might explain Wilders’ unexpected win. “First, we have had a center cabinet for 11 years. In response to that, voters mainly went to the flanks. Second, migration was a big theme and voters quickly think of the PVV when they think of that issue. Lastly, VVD leader Yeşilgöz opened the door to the PVV as a coalition partner. In the Netherlands, people have long been looking for a party that is more outspoken than the VVD, but can govern. Now that door to the PVV is open, they have found it.”

 

Even though Wilders has won the most seats, it is unlikely that he will end up as prime minister.

 

Yeşilgöz said on Tuesday that she ruled out supporting Wilders as prime minister if he won the largest share. And Pieter Omtzigt, whose newly formed party is projected to win 20 seats, has ruled out joining forces with Wilders at all, saying his anti-Islam policies go against freedoms of expression and religion that are enshrined in the Dutch constitution. Timmermans has also set himself firmly against supporting Wilders.

 

Wilders’ PVV is holding its election campaign party in a small cafe in Scheveningen, a beach town next to The Hague. The small room where the party is being held erupted in cheering when the first exit poll was announced.

 

The result is a big shock for PVV officials, too. The venue for the election night party was only found three days ago after Wilders made an unexpected surge in the polls.

 

The green-left alliance led by Timmermans is holding its election night party at a large venue in the Westerpark in Amsterdam.

 

Loud cheers filled the main room after VVD’s defeat was announced, along with the alliance’s own exit poll gains.

 

But afterwards, the room was abuzz with talk of Wilders’ win.

 

The Greens’ Jesse Klaver, who leads the faction in the Dutch parliament, was the first to climb onto the stage, to loud applause. He said he was “shocked” by the result. “We always defended the rule of law and this will be more needed than ever in the future.”

 

This story is being updated.