Geert Wilders makes a show of respecting the law

FOR MOST European parties, forgoing an effort to ban the Koran would not count as a big concession. But Geert Wilders, whose Party for Freedom (PVV) came first in the Netherlands’ election last November with 24% of the vote, wants it to be seen that way. Mr Wilders, a veteran among Europe’s rising hard-right populists, has a history of bashing Islam, the EU and the courts. He is negotiating to form a coalition with three other parties, who worry about his commitment to the constitution. Mr Wilders now says he wants to be a prime minister “for all Dutch” regardless of religion. To prove it the PVV on January 8th withdrew three longstanding proposals for unconstitutional laws, including a ban on Muslim religious expression.

It was an empty gesture: the laws had no chance of passing. But there are signs that the coalition talks, held in secrecy, are progressing. Mr Wilders is negotiating with the centre-right Liberals (VVD), who have led the country for the past 13 years, and with two upstart parties on the right: the New Social Contract (NSC) and the smaller Farmer-Citizen Movement. The VVD’s leader, Dilan Yesilgoz, has said her party will not join a PVV-led government but could back one in a confidence-and-supply deal. Pieter Omtzigt, who founded the NSC last summer, is a self-proclaimed stickler for the rule of law.