WTF JUST HAPPENED IN THE NETHERLANDS?

by Daniel Barge

The Anglosphere Media seem a tad reluctant to talk about the recent political goings on in the Netherlands, where a populist, right-wing, anti-immigration coalition has now been stitched together to take over the government, following months of discussions in the wake of the November 2023 election.

This reticence to comment on an apparently ground-breaking event is perhaps understandable, as many countries are having elections this year, and political establishments in the UK and elsewhere must be concerned about various knock-on and spill-over effects that could impact on their own elections.

For example, the success of somebody like Geert Wilders could boost a party like Reform UK or even prompt Nigel Farage to take his gammon-triggering talents back into front-line UK politics for the coming 2024 election.

Nevertheless what has happened in Holland is important for those of us interested in serious politics. The Netherlands, after all, is a country that has long been associated with a rather pragmatic, tolerant, and liberal attitude to life.

The new government, in which Geert Wilders' party the PVV is the biggest member with 37 seats (an increase of 20), includes three other parties.

The PVV itself has long been described as "right-wing," "populist," and "anti-immigrant, while in the past it was described by much more hysterical terms. Guess what there were. But what are the other three parties? Who or what are they?

The next biggest coalition partner is the VVD (yes, the initials of every Dutch political party have to sound like a particularly virulent sexual disease). The VVD got 24 seats in November's election (a drop of 10 from last time). Translated into English, they are "The People's Party for Freedom and Democracy" - basically "buzzword, buzzword, buzzword" - and come across as a vaguely libertarian and centre-right liberal party. Interestingly, they are led by Dilan Yeşilgöz-Zegerius, who as the name suggests is not Dutch, but 50% Kurdish and 50% Turkish. 

Dilan Yeşilgöz-Zegerius, an actual "Kurk"

Next is the NSC with 20 seats. This is a new party that focuses on "welfare" and "good governance," but is essentially small-town Christian democrat -- and boomer. It is led by Pieter Omtzigt, who is married to a Syrian Christian, who is, we learn, "his sounding board, his critic and his rock." 

Next it's the BBB with 7 seats, a farmers' party led by the half-Irish Caroline van der Plas. They were big winners in November's election gaining 6 seats. Apparently, the previous government's hard "anti-nitrogen" policies caused a rural backlash, and the BBB is the manifestation of that. 

It is hard to see a general pattern in this coalition, which clearly embodies several distinct groups and concerns, and, as a result, can be considered volatile and unstable. But one interesting feature is that this populist, right-wing, anti-immigration coalition is dominated by people like Wilders, Yeşilgöz-Zegerius, and Pieter Omtzigt who all have "immigrant skin" in the game. Wilders, remember, is of mixed Dutch and Indonesian background.

Is this yet another example of "ladderism," namely the tendency of politicians of certain migrant backgrounds being the most politically adept at pulling up the immigration ladder behind themselves? We shall see.