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Closure of all mosques. Ban on the Quran. Borders closed to migrants. No weapons to Ukraine. Abolition of the climate law. And less power from the EU. The sometimes borderline slogans of Geert Wilders (60) struck a chord with many voters at the end of November 2023. In the early parliamentary elections, one in four people voted for the Islam hater. Wilder’s party is now the strongest faction in the country and claims 37 of the 150 seats in parliament. But there are no coalition partners to govern. Chaos threatens the Netherlands. A ray of hope: Switzerland!
Three months after his surprising election victory, Geert Wilders still cannot fulfill any election promises. Rolling up your sleeves and sweeping through has become a distant memory. If the Eurosceptic does not quickly put together a center-right coalition, he could even lose the position of prime minister.
‘Wilders cannot be Prime Minister of all Dutch people’
Geert Wilder’s big problem: apart from the “Peasant Citizen Movement” (BBB), which only has seven mandates in parliament, no one really wants to make a pact with Wilder’s “Party for Freedom” (PVV). Mediator Ronald Plasterk (66) had tireless conversations with Dilan Yesilgöz (46) of the ‘Party for Freedom and Democracy’ (VVD) and with Pieter Omtzigt (50), chairman of the newly founded conservative party ‘New Social Contract’ (NSC). . . She immediately managed to obtain twenty seats in the House of Representatives.
At the beginning of February, NSC boss Omtzigt broke off the talks. Broker Plasterk also stopped brokering. Reason: A large part of Wilder’s political program is contrary to the rule of law and the constitution. Nobody wants to burn their fingers because of this. Most of Wilders’ plans are so legally untenable that they would not prevail in court, lawyer Thomas van Houwelingen-Boer (34) explains to Blick. ‘Wilders promises to freeze these issues for the time being, but they are part of his politics. He cannot be the Prime Minister of all Dutch people. That is why he may have to give up this office and transfer it to a coalition partner,” Van Houwelingen-Boer continues.
An anti-Wilders coalition would also be possible
The hesitant negotiating partners keep throwing new proposals into the ring. For example, the VVD would support a minority cabinet. An extra-parliamentary government of experts could also be an option.
But there is also a completely different idea for a solution floating around: the remaining parties together form an anti-Wilders coalition, obtain a majority of 76 seats and send the right-wing populist into the opposition. However, no one wants new elections.
In the meantime, Wilders has appointed a new negotiator. But Kim Putters (50) also needs a recipe for success for the delicate coalition formation. The senior official wants to receive this at the end of this week from political expert Claes de Vreese (49), a Danish professor at the University of Amsterdam. Minority coalitions always rule in his country.
In any case, the Dutch are threatened with months of political chaos. Nothing new for the 18 million people. The formation of the last Rutte cabinet took 299 days. Many people look at Federal Bern with a touch of longing. One must look beyond the borders, suggests the Dutch constitutional expert Hans Lönchoff in a commentary in ‘Aviation Analysis’ – and by this he means the Swiss model. “The government consists of only seven ministers, including a rotating head of state, and three or four major parties,” Lönchoff explains. A balanced government would soon be formed there.
Source: Blick
I am Amelia James, a passionate journalist with a deep-rooted interest in current affairs. I have more than five years of experience in the media industry, working both as an author and editor for 24 Instant News. My main focus lies in international news, particularly regional conflicts and political issues around the world.
