(C) Daily Kos
This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered.
. . . . . . . . . .
Who is Geert Wilders, and why does it matter? Ask the Netherlands about the "Dutch Donald Trump" [1]
['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']
Date: 2023-11-23
If you didn’t see the post about this from marsanges, here it is: Shock election result in The Netherlands - Geert Wilders wins
..Geert Wilders is the big winner and is the likely first contender for the next premier ship of this country, I do not think I need to introduce him to the audience here? ...Programmatically, Wilders ‘is for’ closing mosques, outlawing the Koran, basically suppressing Islam, refusing any immigration on basis of asylum; he has flirted with EU exit (but will hardly realize that as it would destroy this country). Many of the things he says are un-doable based on the constitution and the fundamental laws around here, but they attracted a vote.
The BBC has covered the election, and has this profile of Wilders. From the profile:
Geert Wilders doesn't like being called far-right; he insists he's just speaking up for ordinary people. But it was only by putting some of more inflammatory policies on hold and dialling down his hardline rhetoric that he was able to broaden his appeal and secure election victory. ...Sometimes called the Dutch Donald Trump, Mr Wilders hailed the 2016 US presidential elections as Americans taking their country back. After Wednesday night's victory, he proclaimed that he would "put the Dutch back as number one".
They say you can tell a lot about people by who are their friends:
His closest allies in the EU are on the nationalist right. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, French far-right politician Marine Le Pen, and Vox leader Santiago Abascal have all welcomed his victory.
Not mentioned but likely encouraged by this is Vladimir Putin. Wilder’s election will put strains on NATO and Dutch support for Ukraine. His desire to pull out of the European Union will put more stress on the regional economy.
This will also be taken by Republicans as a sign that the right wing continues to advance — and that the way forward is to put a kinder, gentler face on Fascism.
It’s still too early to know exactly what shape the new Dutch government will take or what policies it will adopt. The BBC notes:
But his success is not dissimilar to Giorgia Meloni's election victory a year ago in Italy. She too moderated some her most radical policies and reaped the reward at the ballot box,. She went on to form a right-wing coalition. It is far too early to say whether Geert Wilders can do the same.
The digital edition of The NY Times, as of 12:00 ET has the story buried way down the front page in World News: Long a Bastion of Liberalism, the Netherlands Takes a Sharp Right Turn — In an election result that sent shock waves across Europe, Geert Wilders, a longtime far-right provocateur, is closer than ever to becoming prime minister.”
The Netherlands, long regarded as one of Europe’s most socially liberal countries, woke up to a drastically changed political landscape on Thursday after a far-right party swept national elections in a result that has reverberated throughout Europe. Geert Wilders’ Party for Freedom, which advocates banning the Quran, closing Islamic schools and entirely halting the acceptance of asylum seekers, won 37 seats in the 150-seat House of Representatives, making it by far the biggest party, in a clear rebuke of the country’s political establishment. The results, tabulated overnight after Wednesday’s voting, give Mr. Wilders enough support to try to form a governing coalition. Centrist and center-right parties long wary of the firebrand have left the door ajar to a possible partnership, giving Mr. Wilders a chance to become the Netherlands’ first far-right prime minister.
It remains to be seen how power sharing will work out or how long the coalition between parties will hold up. The moderating effect of a multi-party system where no one can expect an overwhelming majority has pluses and minuses. (What doesn’t?)
In any case, Republicans in America are showing no signs of moderation; their instinct is to double down — and then double down again.
Good luck to the people of the Netherlands, the European Union, and everywhere democracy and tolerance are under threat.
[END]
---
[1] Url:
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/11/23/2207648/-Who-is-Geert-Wilders-and-why-does-it-matter-Ask-the-Netherlands-about-the-Dutch-Donald-Trump?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=latest_community&pm_medium=web
Published and (C) by Daily Kos
Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified.
via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds:
gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/
