Far-right party unexpectedly wins election in the Netherlands

Geert Wilders' far-right Freedom Party unexpectedly won the most seats in parliamentary elections, moving towards forming a coalition government.

Mr. Geert Wilders' Party for Freedom (PVV) surpassed all predictions to win 37 out of 150 seats in parliament, far exceeding the 25 seats of the Labor Party-Green Party coalition and the 24 seats of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) of outgoing Prime Minister Mark Rutte.

The victory of PVV and Wilders shocked the Dutch public as well as Europe. "The Rutte era has ended with the uprising of right-wing populism," wrote the Dutch daily NRC .

Wilders, 60, now has the task of forming a coalition government to take power, a task seen as challenging, as rival parties have said they do not want to join a PVV-led coalition.

Observers say the most likely outcome is a coalition with the VVD and the NSC party of centrist lawmaker Pieter Omtzigt to win 81 seats, a majority in parliament. However, they believe the negotiation process could take months.

A fan of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Mr. Wilders has vowed to stop all immigration, cut the Netherlands' financial contributions to the European Union (EU) and block the admission of any new members to the bloc, including Ukraine.

Mr Wilders has also repeatedly said that the Netherlands should stop supplying weapons to Ukraine because the country needs weapons to defend itself.

Far-right politician and PVV party leader Geert Wilders (center) raises his glass in a toast in the Dutch parliament after elections in The Hague on November 23. Photo: Reuters

In July, Prime Minister Mark Rutte announced that he would not lead the VVD party and would not run for re-election, after the country's government collapsed due to disagreements regarding immigration policy.

Mr. Rutte's four-party coalition at that time failed to reach an agreement on immigration policy and the cabinet representative submitted his resignation to King Willem-Alexander. Mr. Rutte, 56, is the longest-serving prime minister in Dutch history. He began leading the government in October 2010 and was in his fourth term when he announced his retirement.

Mr Wilders' victory is a warning shot to mainstream parties across Europe ahead of European Parliament elections in June next year, where similar issues to those in the Dutch election, including immigration, the cost of living and climate change, are at the heart of debate.

French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire admitted that the Dutch election showed "emerging concerns in Europe" about immigration and the economy.

Mr Wilders’ victory comes two months after the return to power of Slovakia’s anti-EU populist Robert Fico, who has pledged to halt aid to Ukraine and cut immigration.

Thanh Tam (According to Reuters )

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