Populist Anti-Islam Politician Geert Wilders Achieves Shock Win In Dutch Elections
deadline.comControversial, far-right politician Geert Wilders could be on track to become the Netherlands’ next prime minister following a surprise victory in general elections overnight.
Preliminary figures showed that Wilders’ right-wing Freedom Party (PVV) has gained 37 seats, putting it ahead of the GreenLeft-Labour party (GL/Pvda) alliance with 25 seats and the liberal-conservative Freedom and Democracy Party (VVD) with 25 seats.
The result marks a dramatic change in political fortunes for Wilders, whose PVV party won just 17 seats in snap elections in 2021, following the collapse of a coalition government led by Mark Rutte.
Wilders’ controversial policies include an extreme clampdown on immigration; a referendum on the Netherlands leaving the European Union, or “Nexit”, and Islamophobic measures including the suppression of Islamic schools, the Koran and mosques, although he cannot put the latter ambition in motion under Dutch laws protecting freedom of religion and expression.
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