Geert Wilders struggles towards power in the Netherlands
Other parties are reluctant to join a government with the anti-Muslim populist
THE DUTCH election on November 22nd appeared straightforward: a win for the xenophobic right, with the anti-Muslim Party for Freedom (PVV) of Geert Wilders in the lead. In his newspaper column last week, Ronald Plasterk, a former Labour minister who has turned right, said a government of the PVV and three less radical parties should be simple. It is not, as Mr Plasterk is discovering. The PVV picked him as the verkenner, who sounds out the parties, after its first choice quit over a corruption scandal. It turns out that forming a government including Mr Wilders, long shunned by other parties, is far from easy.
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This article appeared in the Europe section of the print edition under the headline "Mr Wilders’s reluctant partners"
Europe December 2nd 2023
- Russia is poised to take advantage of political splits in Ukraine
- Ukraine’s new enemy: war fatigue in the West
- Geert Wilders struggles towards power in the Netherlands
- Germany’s ruling coalition grapples with a wrecked budget
- Outrage against femicide is spreading in Italy
- How a sombre mood gripped Europe
From the December 2nd 2023 edition
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