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Dutch anti-Islam populist Geert Wilders abandons PM bid (www.bbc.co.uk)

submitted 8 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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[–] [email protected] 0 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Yeah his bid was never realistic. We count on the prime minister for international diplomacy and representation. For which you need to be pretty much undisputed internationally.

I can't imagine Geert traveling to Qatar to broker a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas when he is well known internationally for his anti-muslim stance.

Being a proper prime minister requires you to set aside your convictions and your interests and stepping up for all citizens, muslim or not. There's a lot of doubt he will be able to take on that role.

We're in an interesting political stalemate right now, with current polls showing Wilders' party (the PVV) at around 50% of voters, while his current mandate is only around 23% of votes. He would likely be best served by repeat elections. Which is why we're seeing things play out this way. So far none of the current parties that are set to form a cabinet have proposed their leader take on the role.

Which is understandable because we're heading for a historical form of government where there is no real coalition. Meaning the PM will be under increased pressure as backing from coalition partners is not guaranteed. We might up recruiting someone with an impartial political stake as PM.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (1 children)

We're in an interesting political stalemate right now, with current polls showing Wilders' party (the PVV) at around 50% of voters

Ehm, which polls are that, and are they reliable? Every poll here has them at about 49 (out of 150) seats, i.e. one-third of voters.

(And of course, polls that are not near elections are very unrepresentative of what would actually happen if elections were to take place.)

[–] [email protected] 0 points 8 months ago

You're absolutely right, it's seats, not percentage of votes.

Still a big increase from the current 23.5% of votes mandate netting them 37 seats.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

This guy looks like if I asked DALL-E to draw me an image of a modern fascist, only it wouldn't fuck up the eyebrows the way this goof has.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Bye bye fascist dipshit 🙋🏻

[–] [email protected] 0 points 8 months ago (1 children)

This doesn't change that much. They're still forming a cabinet, it's just a different construction. The prime minister doesn't have any extra power or anything, his party is still the same size and will still have the same influence

[–] [email protected] 0 points 8 months ago (1 children)

That is the configuration they went for in sweden, the far-right supports the government in exchange for them to implement their policies and not be allowed to critizise them. Win-win for the far-right, they do not get blamed for their shitty policies, the liberals and conservatives do, and they can blame the government for anything that goes wrong.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Wow, that sounds like being the possibly best situation in which populists can find themselfes: having a free ticket for destructive criticism without accountability and at the same time bringing the country to fall with their shitty policies, which in turn fosters dissatisfaction and furhter improves their standing.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

I hate compromising with fascists I hate compromising with fascists I hate compromising with fascists I hate "compromising" with fascists.

They will never hold themselves to the same standard they're holding you to. You can't engage with them on equal terms.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Now they will try and form a government of extraparlementary people. That way they can still blame the government

[–] [email protected] 0 points 8 months ago (1 children)

That is basically the whole purpose of his party. They were a decade ago already in the cabinet, and let it collapse because of some bullshit. It's always easier to complain and criticize from the sideline

[–] [email protected] 0 points 8 months ago (2 children)

I could be wrong, and please correcte if I am. Wasn't this the playbook of a certain party in the 1930's in Germany?

[–] [email protected] 0 points 8 months ago

It's the essence of far-right populism everywhere: criticize anybody doing anything for not doing it perfectly (the fairness or unfairness of the critcism being entirelly irrelevant for them) whilst never actually offering concrete solutions only the pie-in-the-sky "if we get rid of 'bad people' everything will be solved".

If and when they do get power, they either fail miserably at actually governing and get voted out or capture power and then fail miserably at actually governing (the country goes back decades, most people get a lot poorer and often they end up involved in some stupid war as their "blame 'bad people'" technique leads to the innevitable conclusion when applied at the level of relation between nations).

[–] [email protected] 0 points 8 months ago

It's only a part of the fascists' playbook. The really dangerous part is where they use the system against itself and destroy it from within.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 8 months ago

This is the best summary I could come up with:

Dutch anti-Islam populist leader Geert Wilders has abandoned his bid to become prime minister, despite his party's dramatic victory in the 2023 elections.

The negotiator leading the latest round of talks which concluded on Tuesday, is due to share his report with parliament on Thursday.

The love for my country and voter is great and more important than my own position," Mr Wilders wrote in his post on Wednesday evening.

Mr Wilders, 60, has spent months in talks with the centre-right VVD, New Social Contract (NSC) and BBB farmers' parties to try and form a coalition government.

It was not immediately clear if a compromise figure for the prime minister's post has emerged.

The PVV's victory last year not only shook Dutch politics, but had repercussions across Europe as the Netherlands is one of the founding members of what is now the European Union.

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