After the victory of the extreme right in the Netherlands’ parliamentary elections, the scope of which has surprised even abroad, a difficult task awaits its Islamophobic leader, Geert Wilders: to convince his political opponents to form a government with him.

The Freedom Party (PVV) will control 37 seats in the 150-member Parliament, more than double what it won in the 2021 elections, according to the almost final results.

“The voters have spoken. The seats were shared. It is now important to see what points we can agree on,” Wilders said, celebrating his success with champagne. Addressing supporters gathered in The Hague, Wilders nevertheless repeated his anti-immigration rhetoric, saying the Dutch had voted to erect a “barrier to the tsunami” of asylum seekers. But he later told reporters that he wants to be “the prime minister of all the Dutch” and that he will “work hard with the other parties” to form a coalition government.

The unexpected victory of the 60-year-old politician does not automatically guarantee him the office of prime minister.
Frans Timmermans’ Greens-Labor alliance, which came in second and elects 25 MPs, has ruled out any cooperation with Wilders in advance. “It’s time to defend democracy,” the former Commissioner even declared.

Dylan Gesilgioz, the leader of outgoing Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s centre-right People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD, 24 seats), said after the disappointing result for her party that she should “let’s see if Wilders manages to form a coalition.”

Before the election the leaders of the three largest political parties had assured that they would not participate in a government led by the PVV. But Wilders said they “can no longer ignore” his party.

Newcomer Pieter Omzig, of the new anti-corruption party New Social Contract (NSC, 20 seats), said he was “available” for negotiations with Wilders, admitting the process “will not be easy”.

“It will be completely dependent on the VVD,” Sara de Lange, professor of Political Pluralism at the University of Amsterdam, told AFP. “A big question will be who will take over as prime minister since with Wilders as prime minister the Netherlands will find itself in an unimaginable position, internationally.”

Wilders’ victory is causing concern in Brussels: the far-right leader, supporter of “Nexit”, had promised to call a referendum on whether or not the Netherlands would remain in the European Union. Concerns are also expressed internally. “People are worried, some are afraid, others are uncertain about their future and their place in Dutch society,” said Habib el Kadouri, of the Dutch-Moroccan foundation SMN.

However, the European far-right, from Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, the leader of the French National Alarm Marine Le Pen and Santiago Abascal of the Spanish Vox, welcomed the “air of change” in Europe.

Wilders sometimes called “Dutch Trump” but in fact he is involved in politics many years before the former American president. He has not hesitated to call Moroccans “bums”, propose a competition for the best caricature of the prophet Mohammed and built his career campaigning against what he calls the “Islamic invasion” of the West. Neither his legal adventures (he had been convicted of insulting Moroccans) nor death threats (he has been living under police protection since 2004) discouraged him.

Recently he has tried to tone down and focus on other concerns of voters, such as the high cost of living. He even stated that he was ready to put aside his views on Islam in order to govern. In the pre-election manifesto of the PVV, however, the xenophobic tone remains. It proposes, among other things, the reintroduction of border controls, the detention and deportation of irregular migrants, the return of Syrian asylum seekers to their country and the reintroduction of work permits for workers from EU countries. It also states that “the Netherlands is not Islamic country. No (Islamic) schools, no Korans, no mosques.”