The impressive final sprint that catapulted the far-right, Islamophobic and Europhobic leader Geert Wilders to victory in Wednesday's elections in the Netherlands will be studied for a long time in the faculties of Political Science. Neither his rivals nor Wilders himself expected such a good result for his Party for Freedom (the PVV has won 37 of the 150 seats in the Dutch Parliament, more than double the number two years ago) but there is no time to lick our wounds or to celebrations: today, the lower house will appoint an informant who will be in charge of exploring the possibilities of forming a Government and, later, appointing a formator who will most likely be the leader of the PVV.
“Now they won't be able to ignore us,” Wilders congratulates himself. Although unlike Belgium, in the Netherlands there is no sanitary cordon to prevent the extreme right from coming to govern, the truth is that since 2010, when it offered its parliamentary support to the first government of Mark Rutte (VVD) and 18 months then she dropped him, she has never been considered as a possible partner again. Its excellent result, built on the collapse of all the parties that were part of the previous coalition, overwhelming the left's attempt to join forces to stop it, makes it an essential partner this time.
The leader of the PVV has reached out to three conservative parties. Firstly, the VVD, which although before Wednesday had ruled out supporting Wilders if he were elected prime minister, was not averse to having him as a partner; Now she is silent about his intentions. Secondly, to the New Social Center, a new party led by the former Christian Democrat Pieter Omtzigt, the other sensation of these elections, also in favor of a severe brake on immigration of all kinds. And, finally, to the Citizen Peasant Movement (BBB), a newly minted party that triumphed in a big way in the provincial elections in March by capitalizing on the unrest of the countryside against The Hague; Its result now has been modest but it shares many points of its program with the PVV and its presence in the Government would reflect the slap that a large part of the electorate has wanted to give to the traditional parties.
Beyond parliamentary arithmetic, parties will have to weigh the political implications of their decisions. The postulates of the PVV program not only clash with the country's pro-European vocation and its foreign policy but also threaten the rule of law. Apart from wanting to suspend the right to asylum, ban Islam and lock up those suspected of having jihadist ideas, Wilders wants a referendum on the EU, rejects European climate policy and opposes Western sanctions on Russia or rapprochement with Ukraine.
Their biggest challenge will be to iron out these positions until they are digestible for the rest of the conservative parties. For now, he has promised to be “the prime minister of all Dutch people, regardless of their origin or religion,” and to act with pragmatism, as he did in the election campaign, when he put aside his anti-Islam rhetoric to talk about the cost of living and other immediate concerns of the Dutch, in addition to immigration, a clearly successful strategy. He also assures that he will govern “within the legal and constitutional framework”, a statement that was positively valued by Omtzigt, who neither confirms nor rules out that he could support the PVV.
The government formation process could be extended until the European Parliament elections in June 2024, an event that the far right and anti-European parties await with expectation. From the Deputy Prime Minister of Italy, Matteo Salvini, to Marine Le Pen, Santiago Abascal and Viktor Orbán, everyone has congratulated Wilders on his spectacular victory, which they hope will be the prelude to a new Europe.
