Dutch Government Collapses Over Wilders’s Migration Clampdown Demands
Geert Wilders has toppled the Dutch Government after pulling out of the governing coalition because it would not back his plans for tougher migration rules, triggering a new election in which he hopes to become Prime Minister. The Telegraph has more.
The Dutch hard-Right leader withdrew his Party for Freedom (PVV) from the Right-wing alliance, formed eight months after his victory in the November 2023 general election.
He vowed he would become Prime Minister after triggering a snap election less than a year after the warring coalition took office.
“In fact, I am going to become Prime Minister of the Netherlands next time and ensure that the PVV becomes bigger than ever in the next elections,” he said.
Referring to himself in the third person, he added: “Today is the day that all of The Hague is against Wilders and the PVV. That is allowed, but I am very much strengthened in my position.”
After a two-hour emergency meeting of his cabinet, Dick Schoof, the Prime Minister, announced the collapse of the Government, which will continue in a caretaker capacity until after new elections.
He said Mr Wilders’s decision to quit the Government was “irresponsible and unnecessary”.
Mr Wilders had demanded his three coalition partners agree to a new 10-point migration plan, which included using the army to close land borders, the deportation of Syrian asylum seekers and an end to family reunification, without prior consultation.
“Close the borders for asylum-seekers and family reunifications. No more asylum centres opened. Close them,” he told them.
He also demanded a ‘one strike you’re out’ policy that would ensure migrants convicted of violent or sexual crimes were deported.
But after the allies refused to back the plan on Monday morning, the divisive anti-Islam firebrand wrote on X: “No signature for our asylum plans … PVV leaves the coalition.”
Mr Wilders’s PVV was the largest party in the coalition alongside the conservative-liberal People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), the Farmers’ Citizen Movement (BBB) and the centrist New Social Contract.
Caroline Van der Plas, the BBB leader, criticised him for a “reckless kamikaze action”.
Dilan Yesilgöz, the VVD leader, said: “The Netherlands needs a mature and responsible leader who will keep us safe. But Wilders is abandoning the Netherlands.”
The latest poll, from Peil.nl, gives Mr Wilders a narrow lead of 1% over Groenlinks-PVDA, the biggest Left-wing party and opposition, by 31% to 30%.
Frans Timmermans, the former EU climate chief and leader of the Groenlinks-PVDA, also called for elections as “soon as possible”.
Wilders’s party is way down on its commanding poll lead of early last year – being in government has not done it any favours, it seems. The question is whether collapsing the Government now will be rewarded by the electorate or punished. That will become clear in the coming weeks.
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So according to the Telegraph common sense is now “hard right”.
With “friends” like the Telegraph, who needs enemies?
No one needs to take the Telegraph. Try it. On the other hand the BBC still shows Wimbledon. I have my price, sorry.
It’s presumably the least bad of the legacy media papers. Low bar though. Indeed nobody needs to buy it.
🙂
And yet if nothing changes, nothing changes. Some people like it the way it is.
It used to be honourable to leave a Government if you dud not concur with its policies.
Honour is very much out of date it seems.
DT has been Guardianised since the Covid disaster when its health reporters were spreading terror to their readership, and they still do. Then, to please their Democrat-loving potential buyers, there hasn’t been a single day without a vitriolic article against Trump. But what gives the game away is their reference to Wilders as “the divisive anti-Islam firebrand…”. Divisive? For not wanting the Islamisation of his country? I’d rather give my money to DS and FSU than to that rag (at any rate, it should be free, Bill Gates’s massive subscription is enough”).
Multiculturalism by its nature is divisive. It divides a population into different social groups based on different cultures. Result always is disunity, disharmony, and conflict.
To be fair, our Geert is divisive. He’s the only member of his party (everyone else is a supporter, with no voting rights), he’s the definition of ‘does not play well with others’, and two decades of isolation under round-the-clock heavy security to protect him from Islamist violence haven’t improved his people skills. That doesn’t make him wrong, but it must have been hell trying to form a government with him.
Neither the VVD nor the NSC wanted to be in a coalition with Wilders, and only reluctantly joined because they knew the majority of their voters did want that. ‘Centrist’ NSC was a pain in the ass from day 1 – set up by a former member of the centrist CDA who was considered a man of great integrity, the party got 20 seats out of nowhere. However, as soon as the formation talks were ongoing he was acting like a child, it was because of him and the VVD that Wilders did not become PM. Another candidate, a well-respected and competent former MP was also excluded by the same parties, landing us with a former civil servant (mainly related to intelligence services) that no one knew and no one likes. The real kicker about the NSC – the guy who established it up had a ‘breakdown’ shortly after the cabinet was installed, took a few months off (after dragging out the cabinet formation for months), then came back and bitched that Wilders and his party weren’t doing enough (even though his party was continually striking down just about everything the PVV came up with) – and then a few… Read more »
Centrists is the cover name for Socialist.
Agreed.
Personally I find wilders a rther unattractive figure but his policies are basically sound.
The worry is obviously that he will be punished in the polls, leading to a truly horrendous left_green alliance.
I voted for the PVV and will at the next election. Not because I am particularly enamoured with Wilders or the PVV as a whole – but it is pretty much the only game in town. All the other parties pretend to be different, but the only difference between them is just how much tax they want to levy and what pet group they want to spend it on – the VVD used to be for lower taxes and better use of the money, now they are one of the worst and support the disastrous and illegal wealth tax – a major contributor to the shortage of rental properties, as well as the ridiculous green policies that are leading to business after business leaving the country. But Wilders has been consistent, and he is spot on about the untenability of the number of people coming in, particularly from cultures so at odds with Western culture. I would not word things the way Wilders does nor make such personal attacks, but I am far more concerned with the actions of people like Rutte, rather than the words of Wilders. Rutte, affable, jovial, always smiling, always talking about how “we” all agreed… Read more »
Thank you for both of your extremely informative posts. It’s invaluable to hear an insider’s view of the situation from an actual Dutch person.
How odd that the Netherlands had TWO TURKISH WOMEN close to the coalition government: NSC Omptzigt’s Turkish wife, and that awful “Turkish Muslim in Stilettos” bizarrely chosen to lead the VDD.
Geert Wilders is a Hero, a True Dutch Patriot, and was The People’s Choice for Prime Minister. Not one of his coalition partners has ever had to live under a constant threat to his life as Wilders has done for years.
He has done absolutely the right thing to call out the charlatans around him, including the WEF stooge Schoof.
What you say here isn’t really reflective of the Dutch situation or political system. Geert Wilders should have been Prime Minister by long-standing custom, and I admire many things about him, but he is very flawed. I suspect the only government he could be effective in is a PVV government without coalition partners, which is almost impossible to achieve in the Netherlands. The PVV isn’t really a party with voting members, so a PVV government would be a one-man government, and there’s a word for that.
Yesilgoz isn’t culturally particularly Turkish. Her attitudes and posture are often more Dutch than many Dutch people’s. Like Ahmed Aboutaleb who came down hard on Moroccan antisocial behaviour as mayor of Rotterdam, she’s very critical of ‘communities’ that don’t integrate. I wish she’d be more VVD-like in the policies she promotes, and someone needs to get her a voice coach, but that’s not related to where her parents are from.
It took me several years to stop mapping British political attitudes onto Dutch politics – the two systems are just very different, and they govern two very different societies.
Rubbish! Your comment shows that you have been completely taken in by Taqiyya, and are one of the weak, foolish “dhimmis” = “Useful Idiots” sneered at by Muslims.
It’s people like you that are undermining all the True Dutch Patriots efforts to save the Dutch People.
Weak people are more treacherous than strong ones.
Heavens. I really think things are not that black and white. I studied Islamic history and Arabic at university, what feels like a lifetime ago, so I know quite a bit about it for both better and worse. I don’t want Islam running any country I live in or love as I do the Netherlands, and I’ll fight and if necessary die to stop that happening. But I don’t think in terms of goodies and baddies, Turks/Moroccans as infiltrators by default, or loyalists and useful idiots. Dutch attitudes didn’t use to be like that either; I don’t really know how ordinary Dutch people think now, as I lost touch with a lot of people during Covid (the fact that they kept their distance from me, the unclean non-QR code holder, does itself suggest attitudes may have hardened).
I second Heretic’s thanks and wish you and your fellow countrymen all the best
Exactly right. I think Omtzigt internalised all the ‘champion of the people’ stuff that was written about him and forgot how to be a normal grown-up. And – speaking as someone with a chronic illness – if you’re prone to burnouts, you’re probably best off either outside of politics or as a backbencher.
I have no idea how I’ll vote this time – it was hard enough to decide last time, and now I’ve experienced this glorious coalition I’m at a loss. I do feel for Dik Schoof. He hasn’t been a shining example of leadership, but he did agree to take the least attractive job in politics after everyone else had run screaming and he’s done the best he was capable of.
The preferred candidate for prime
minister at the time was victim of a smear campaign. Schoof was never going to be the right person.
I agree he wasn’t the right person, but literally no one the other parties would approve of was willing to do it. No one Wilders supported was going to be acceptable. I almost wish the other parties had just been honest and said they weren’t prepared to work with him, instead of pretending and stringing us along for a year.
Yes – if Omtzigt is genuine – I really can’t decide anymore, I remember his own attempt at a ‘joke’ holding papers in a way that the cameras could see, back and forth while the coalition was forming, taking off so shortly after the cabinet was installed, then coming back arrogantly telling everyone they needed to get to work, retiring completely, then last week saying he wasn’t completely out of the picture, he’d still be partaking behind the scenes – either he’s unstable or incapable of understanding how to behave, or he’s taking the piss. In terms of burnout – I sympathise with him in the sense that I wouldn’t like the stress or constant attacks either – hence why I haven’t gone into politics. He’s been in politics for some 20 years I think, he’s in his 50s – he should know his own limitations by now. There is a possibility that he is truly genuine and others took advantage of his character to set the NSC up to fail and stop the PVV. I don’t feel in the least sorry for Schoof, I think he was part of the set-up. There are plenty of other people who could… Read more »
The SGP is indeed a realistic option, which before Covid is not something I ever expected to say. I wonder what they’d do in government, especially if they were in coalition with the PVV. I hate the idea of strategic voting in principle – the only way for a government to actually represent the people is for each person to vote in their best interests – but I really really don’t want PvdA/GL to get in and govern the Netherlands for the benefit of the EU and global institutions. Well, we’ve got several months to think it over before they get round to organising new elections.
It was the only action Wilders could take to continue to have some credibility with his voters.
The other party that will loose seats will likely be the BBB (farmers party). So the next election will be really interesting.
Will the Dutch rally behind Wilders in order to curb immigration or will the NSC and BBB voters end up on the left and with the VVD?
BBB votes will most likely go to the PVV, some NSC voters will turn back to the hypocritical CDA, whose leader berates Wilders’ tone and tweets, as he hastily tries to erase his own quite hateful tweets. Some NSC voters will probably go to PVV and VVD. The real question is how many people will fall for what they see as the ‘statesman-like’ Timmersmans or, even worse (which hardly seems possible), the incredibly up-herself Halsema, current unelected mayor of Amsterdam, who could teach Two Tier Keir a lesson or two on selective interpretation and application of the law. That woman has an ego the size of a house, but does not see it herself – the incarnation of the tyrant that C.S. Lewis speaks of when referring to moral tyranny. I saw a comparison calculation of what the VVD would tax/spend on and GL/PvdA, with the latter claiming they would take in less than the VVD. Actually, what they intended to do was impose taxes in the vicinity of 30 billion euros or thereabouts as a ‘wealth tax’ – i.e. on capital, property and profits, also known as driving businesses away and destroying the middle class. That tax is already… Read more »
It is quite a mess all over Europe.
As you speak Dutch you may find this interesting : https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7_o8gwJYnCI&t=66s
About the future of democracy, the role of law and some other interesting topics.
Wilders will never be PM and people are losing confidence in the PVV. Even I don’t know why he did what he did and what he thinks his actions will accomplish because it’s certainly not going to further his political career. He is too extreme and rigid and it’s just been 11 months of squabbles and problems as a result. I agree with a lot of what he says but when it comes to him saying he wants to ban Islam, get rid of Korans and mosques etc, this is all fanciful Cloud Cuckoo Land stuff which is never ever going to happen. Even Hungary has not banned Islam and has mosques. We need to be realistic here and I think Wilders has alienated a lot of people with his rather extreme attitude, and I say that as somebody who also hates Islam; ”At the end of 11 months in office, only 14 percent of voters look back positively on the performance of the collapsed Schoof I Cabinet. A new Cabinet with the PVV, VVD, NSC, and BBB after the next election is therefore not popular, with only 16 percent of voters calling it a good idea, EenVandaag found in a survey… Read more »
It’s a real shame this ‘right-wing’ coalition was so extremely deadlocked. There’ll probably be quite a few voters now thinking ‘Oh, so the right can’t govern either’. I’m just praying they don’t decide to vote for Frans Timmermans as the moderate Sinterklaas figure he’s presented as. I can admire things about him, as I can admire (very different) things about Wilders, but I want that man as far away from power as possible.
On a side note, I take comfort from knowing that the EenVandaag panel is made up of people who a) watch EenVandaag and b) chose to join its panel – it’s probably not as representative as they claim.
It was the only action Wilders could take to remain credible. Actions to curb migration were blocked every way, so getting nowhere. And as that was his main party policy he had to distance himself from the government.
So I understand why he did what he did. It will be very interesting to see what will happen with NSC and BBB collapsing. Where will these votes go?
Well done for such a sensible comment.
Ballsy! What you see is what you get. Good luck Geert.
I’d really like to know that the precise difference between hard right, far right, extreme right and ultra right is, dito for any other common qualifications applied to right.
Let’s say there’s a nationalist German party which wants to introduce a presidential system with a strong president, is very much opposed to Israel and occasionally refers to a certain prominent German leader of the first half of the 20th century as great statesman, what kind of “right” would this be when compared to Wilders?
A friend of mine who must have an IQ of at least 120 described Giorgia Meloni as “far right”. I asked him exactly what he meant and he wasn’t able to answer. It’s a very useful term because people like my friend hear it and parrot it.
Right and Left wing are redundant French revolutionary terms. A political philosophy takes a certain direction and that’s that.
That’s principally true. But I still think it’s a useful distinction. To name a few points,
maybe we should rename the right as realists and the left as idealists so there’s no confusion.
I’m taking postgraduate interpreting exams next week, and one of the potential topics for French is ‘populism/disinformation’. Knowing my profession as I do, and having had to interpret this year in several hysterical exercises on AfD/RN ‘neo-Nazis’ delivered as if they were purely factual, I’m preparing glossaries on every European and American leader who doesn’t actively promote open borders and censorship.
So he’s “hard” Right, not “Far” but fExtreme”… is there a points system?
Well done to the True Dutch Patriot Geert Wilders for calling out the charlatans surrounding him, and bringing their treasonous little schemes crashing down!
It was absolutely outrageous that his so-called “coalition partners” all colluded together to refuse him his rightful place as Prime Minister of the Netherlands, even accepting the completely irrelevant, dodgy character Schoof instead,
and now they have proven their treachery by reaching out to LEFTIST PARTIES to form a new coalition, instead of just supporting Geert’s sensible proposals!!!
Though the backstabbing from the “Turkish Muslim in Stilettos” chosen as leader of the VVD was to be expected, and the bizarre behaviour of the leader of the NSC (also married to a Turk) may have been caused by drug use (?), the treachery of the female journalist chosen to lead the Dutch Farmers Party (BBB) is just unforgiveable. The Dutch Farmers need to kick her out and get an ACTUAL FARMER to lead their party.
Wilders has done the right thing, an honest and courageous move, and every patriot in the West must hope that he wins even more of the Dutch people’s vote next time around, because he is the True Prime Minister of the Netherlands.
And what’s more, the Dutch Farmers Party should insist that their new ACTUAL FARMER leader should be allotted two adjacent spaces in the Dutch Parliament Car Park,
so he can fit his tractor in.
🙂
I saw a rather amusing video of a makeshift immigrant encampment in Italy which featured a resourceful immigrant who had picked up a domestic cat off the street and was barbecuing it. We are way beyond the point where there is any point in trying to stop it. There is nothing to be gained by clinging to the past. This is the world that we created and facilitated. Yes baby we made our bed and now it is time to lie in it. If you are into winning strategy the best one is to do what the establishment is doing. Get a lot of these people to work for you for peanuts. Otherwise get out because you won’t have the option to get out in two years time.