OG far right winger Geert Wilders party wins in election and likely will become PM in the Netherlands

[☑︎#VoteDemocrat]

Dutch election: Wilders' far-right party set for gains

Dutch anti-EU far-right populist Geert Wilders, who has vowed to halt all immigration to the Netherlands, was set for a major victory in parliamentary elections on Wednesday, an exit poll showed.

www.reuters.com

Dutch election: Wilders' far-right party set for gains​

Bart H. MeijerNovember 22, 20239:25 PM ESTUpdated 31 min ago
AMSTERDAM, Nov 22 (Reuters) - Dutch anti-EU far-right populist Geert Wilders, who has vowed to halt all immigration to the Netherlands, was set for a major victory in parliamentary elections on Wednesday, an exit poll showed.

Beating all predictions, the exit poll put Wilders' Freedom Party (PVV) at 35 out of 150 seats, 10 seats ahead of the closest rival, former EU Commissioner Frans Timmermans' Labour/Green Left combination. That margin was far more than expected and appeared to be too great for the outcome to change.

Exit polls are generally reliable with a margin of error of roughly two seats.

At a cafe in The Hague, Wilders fans erupted in cheers, hugged and threw their arms in the air.

In a victory speech, Wilders vowed to bring an end to a "tsunami of asylum and immigration."

Wilders' rode a wave of anti-immigration sentiment, blaming a housing shortage on flows of asylum seekers and drawing on widespread concerns about the cost of living and the overburdened healthcare system.

Wilders upset victory came two months after the return to power of the equally anti-EU populist Robert Fico in Slovakia, who pledged to halt military aid to Ukraine and cut immigration.

Last year, Italy formed its most right-wing government since World War Two after the election victory of Giorgia Meloni.

Wilders' inflammatory views on Islam have prompted death threats and he has lived under heavy police protection for years. He has called the prophet Mohammad a "pedophile", Islam a "fascist ideology" and "backward religion" and wants to ban mosques and the Quran, the Muslim holy book, in the Netherlands.

Abroad, his anti-Islam comments led to sometimes violent protests in nations with large Muslim populations, including Pakistan, Indonesia and Egypt. In Pakistan, a religious leader issued a fatwa against him.

Islamic and Moroccan organisations expressed concerns about Wilders' victory. "The distress and fear are enormous," Habib el Kaddouri, who heads an organisation representing Dutch Moroccans, told Dutch news agency ANP. "We are afraid that he will portray us as second-class citizens."

[1/8]Dutch far-right politician and leader of the PVV party Geert Wilders appears on a screen as supporters of Dilan Yesilgoz, the leader of VVD, gather for exit poll and early results in the Dutch parliamentary elections, in The Hague, Netherlands, November 22, 2023. REUTERS/Piroschka van de Wouw Acquire Licensing Rights
"It’s gonna be much tougher on immigrants and I’m scared that they’re going to deny people their human rights," said Labour-Green Left voter Ashlynn Hughes.

AT ODDS WITH THE EU​

A self-proclaimed fan of Hungary's Victor Orban, Wilders is also explicitly anti-EU, urging the Netherlands to control borders, to significantly reduce its payments to the union and to block the entrance of any new members.

He has also repeatedly said the Netherlands should stop providing arms to Ukraine, saying it needs the weapons to be able to defend itself. However, none of the parties he could potentially form a government with share these ideas.

The party of outgoing Prime Minister Mark Rutte, the conservative VVD, was in third place at 24 seats, the exit poll showed.

Immigration - the issue that triggered the collapse of Rutte's last cabinet after 13 years in power - has been a key issue in the campaign.

Wilders is expected to try to form a right-wing government with the VVD and the upstart party 'New Social Contract', who together would hold a 79-seat majority.

Talks could be difficult as both parties have said they have serious doubts about working with Wilders, because of his outspoken anti-Islam stance, which includes aiming to ban all mosques and Korans from the Netherlands.

"I am confident we can reach an agreement," Wilders said in his victory speech. "I understand perfectly well we should not take any measures that would be unconstitutional."

His party had now become too large to ignore, he said, adding he was ready to lead the country.

Wilders is internationally known for his anti-Islam politics and was convicted by a Dutch judge for discrimination after he insulted Moroccans at a campaign rally in 2014.

Rutte will remain in a caretaker role until a new government is installed, likely in the first half of 2024.

Reporting by Johnny Cotton, Toby Sterling, Anthony Deutsch, Bart Meijer, Stephanie van den Berg, Charlotte van Campenhout; Writing by Ingrid Melander; Editing by Toby Chopra, Angus MacSwan and Aurora Ellis
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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[☑︎#VoteDemocrat]

Anti-Islam populist Wilders heading for a massive win in Netherlands in a shock for Europe

An exit poll says the far-right and anti-Islam populist Geert Wilders is heading for a massive parliamentary election victory. It's one of the biggest political upsets in Dutch politics since World War II and one that is bound to send shockwaves through Europe.

apnews.com

Anti-Islam populist Wilders heading for a massive win in Netherlands in a shock for Europe​

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The far-right, anti-Islam populist Geert Wilderswas headed for a massive parliamentary election victory Wednesday in one of the biggest political upsets in Dutch politics since World War II, and one that is bound to send shockwaves through Europe.

The result puts him in line to lead talks to form a new ruling coalition and possibly become the country’s first hard-right prime minister at a time of political upheaval through much of the continent.

The exit poll published by national broadcaster NOS said that Wilders’ Party for Freedom won 35 seats in the 150-seat lower house of parliament, more than double the 17 he won at the last election. Final official results were only expected on Thursday.

“I had to pinch my arm,” a jubilant Wilders said.

Other news
Wilders’ election program includes calls for a referendum on the Netherlands leaving the European Union, a total halt to accepting asylum-seekers and migrant pushbacks at Dutch borders.

It also advocates the “de-Islamization” of the Netherlands, although he has been milder about Islam during this election campaign than in the past.

“Voters said, ‘We are sick of it. Sick to our stomachs’,” he said, adding he was now on a mission to end the “asylum tsunami,” referring to the migration issue that came to dominate his campaign.

“The Dutch will be No. 1 again,” Wilders added. “The people must get their nation back.”

But the lawmaker, who has in the past been labeled a Dutch version of Donald Trump, first would have to form a coalition government before he can take the reins of power.

That will be tough as mainstream parties are reluctant to join forces with him and his party, but the size of his victory strengthens his hand in any negotiations.

Wilders called on other parties to constructively engage in coalition talks. Pieter Omtzigt, a former centrist Christian Democrat who built his own New Social Contract party in three months to take an estimated 20 seats, said he would always be open to talks.

The closest party to Wilders’ one was an alliance of the center-left Labor Party and Green Left, which was forecast to win 26 seats. But its leader Frans Timmermans made clear that Wilders should not count on a coalition with him.

“We will never form a coalition with parties that pretend that asylum seekers are the source of all misery,” Timmermans said.

“And in the coming days and weeks we will increasingly see how difficult, how important, how essential our task is to stand up for the Netherlands where we exclude no one, to stand up for the Netherlands where we embrace everyone to stand up for the Netherlands, where we do not look at what your background is, what your religion is, what your skin color is,” he added.

Despite his harsh rhetoric, Wilders was already courting other right and center parties by saying that whatever he would do, “it would be within the law and constitution.”

The historic victory came one year after the win of Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni, whose Brothers of Italy’s roots were steeped in nostalgia for fascist dictator Benito Mussolini. Meloni has since mellowed her stance on several issues and has become the acceptable face of the hard right in the EU.

Wilders was long a firebrand lashing out at Islam, at the EU and migrants — a stance which brought him close to power but never in it in a nation known for compromise politics.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who boasts of turning Hungary into an “illiberal” state and has similarly harsh stances on migration and EU institutions, was quick to congratulate Wilders. “The winds of change are here! Congratulations,” Orban said.

During the final weeks of his campaign, Wilders somewhat softened his stance and vowed that he would be a prime minister for all Dutch people, so much so that he gained the moniker Geert “Milders.”

The exit poll was published as voting ended in the general election. It can have a margin of error of up to three seats but generally is accurate within one or two seats, said Ipsos, which was involved in the poll.

The election was called after the fourth and final coalition of outgoing Prime Minister Mark Rutte resigned in July after failing to agree to measures to rein in migration.

Rutte was replaced by Dilan Yeşilgöz-Zegerius, a former refugee from Turkey who could have become the country’s first female prime minister had her party won the most votes. Instead, it was forecast to lose 11 seats to end up with 23.

The election had been called a neck-and-neck race, but in the end Wilders handily beat all opponents.

The result is the latest in a series of elections that is altering the European political landscape. From Slovakia and Spain, to Germany and Poland, populist and hard-right parties triumphed in some EU member nations and faltered in others.

___​

Casert reported from Brussels.

 

[☑︎#VoteDemocrat]

 

[☑︎#VoteDemocrat]

 

[☑︎#VoteDemocrat]

@42 Monks @voiture @Creflo ½ Dollar @invalid @Pressure @ADevilYouKhow @88m3 @MeachTheMonster @Wargames

 

[88m3]

Guy is such a pos, I always figured he would die or retire before he actually got anywhere


A real shame

 

[voiture]

@42 Monks @voiture @Creflo ½ Dollar @invalid @Pressure @ADevilYouKhow @88m3 @MeachTheMonster @Wargames

A lot of people think this is a game.
Those supporting terrorists like Hamas under the guise of 'protesting' will ensure the rightwing/fascist tilt of Europe. I saw a post that said most of his support came in the last weeks of October.

 

[Long Live The Kane]

T

A lot of people think this is a game.
Those supporting terrorists like Hamas under the guise of 'protesting' will ensure the rightwing/fascist tilt of Europe. I saw a post that said most of his support came in the last weeks of October.

The ole “look what your peaceful free speech against war crimes made me do, made me go all fascist…happy now?” playbook

 

[☑︎#VoteDemocrat]

A lot of people think this is a game.
Those supporting terrorists like Hamas under the guise of 'protesting' will ensure the rightwing/fascist tilt of Europe. I saw a post that said most of his support came in the last weeks of October.

They’re giving a lot of people the excuse they need to pushback on this and I dont think people are prepared for whats about to happen.

People let the “islamophobia” canard fly too loosely and a lot of CHRISTIAN and SECULAR black and asian immigrants are about to get caught up because Arab migrants couldn’t leave the Islamist (mind you I’m not saying “muslim”) bullshyt at the border

They had literal Al Qaeda sympathizers abusing free speech rules in Europe for almost 20 years…hope they didn’t think the reconquista ended

Don’t say we didn’t warn people…

 

[☑︎#VoteDemocrat]

T


The ole “look what your peaceful free speech against war crimes made me do, made me go all fascist…happy now?” playbook

Are you a muslim?

 

[voiture]

T


The ole “look what your peaceful free speech against war crimes made me do, made me go all fascist…happy now?” playbook

Just because you scream war crimes doesn't make it so. Hamas will be crushed and that's what you need to deal with

 

[Pull Up the Roots]

Just because you scream war crimes doesn't make it so. Hamas will be crushed and that's what you need to deal with

Damning evidence of war crimes as Israeli attacks wipe out entire families in Gaza.

How Does International Humanitarian Law Apply in Israel and Gaza?

War crimes are serious violations of the laws of war committed by individuals with criminal intent, that is, deliberately or recklessly. War crimes include deliberately attacking civilians, taking hostages, and collective punishment.

Airstrikes and rocket attacks by Israel, Hamas and other armed groups that target civilians or are indiscriminate violate the laws of war, and, when committed with criminal intent, are war crimes.

Anyone who commits a war crime is criminally liable, as are those responsible for ordering, assisting in, or facilitating a war crime. Commanders and civilian leaders may be criminally liable under the principle of command responsibility if they knew or should have known about crimes their subordinates committed and failed to adequately prevent the crime or punish those responsible.

Over the course of the past 20 days, multiple war crimes have been and continue to be committed in Israel and Palestine, with grave concerns that Israeli forces and Palestinian armed groups are carrying out unlawful indiscriminate attacks harming civilians.

The deliberate killing of Israeli civilians and taking of hundreds of hostages by Hamas and other armed groups are war crimes, as is the launch of rockets indiscriminately at Israeli communities. About 1,400 Israelis have been killed since 7 October, according to the Israeli government.

Israel has continuously bombarded the densely populated Gaza Strip, home to 2.3 million. Over 7,000 Palestinians have been killed since 7 October, including almost 3,000 children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. In some cases, bombs have turned entire blocks and even large parts of neighborhoods to rubble.

Israeli forces have used white phosphorus, a chemical that ignites when in contact with oxygen, causing horrific and severe burns, on densely populated neighborhoods. White phosphorus can burn down to the bone, and burns to 10% of the human body are often fatal.

Israel has also engaged in the collective punishment of Gaza’s population through cutting off food, water, electricity, and fuel. This is a war crime, as is willfully blocking humanitarian relief from reaching civilians in need.

During prior rounds of hostilities, including in 2021, Human Rights Watch documented serious violations of the laws of war by both Israeli forces and Palestinian armed groups.

There’s also concern about Israel ordering the displacement of much of Gaza’s civilian population, which is permitted only if required for the civilians’ security or imperative military reasons. The civilian population needs to be able to return as soon as possible - permanent displacement is a crime.

In addition, the Israeli occupying authorities have committed and continue to commit other international crimes, including with West Bank settlements. If the occupying power transfers any of its civilian population into the occupied territory, either directly or indirectly, it is a war crime.

Human Rights Watch and other rights organizations have also found that Israeli authorities are committing the crimes against humanity of apartheid and persecution against millions of Palestinians. The systematic oppression of the population of Gaza forms part of these ongoing crimes.

International crimes should lead to accountability. The International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague has jurisdiction over war crimes and other serious international crimes committed in or from the OPT (the territory of the State of Palestine, which is an ICC member), and by nationals of Palestine.

The court’s prosecutor has an ongoing investigation, which his predecessor opened in 2021, into possible crimes in Palestine.

Human Rights Watch has urged the prosecutor to make a clear formal statement about how the court’s mandate applies to the current context, which would provide a critical signal that all those responsible for war crimes could face prosecution.

Effective accountability is vital to ending the atrocities.

 

[voiture]

^^ When Israel gets convicted of a war crime then get back to me. Screaming war crimes does not make it so....I'm sure Israel will also present their evidence of hamas using civilians as human shields. That alone kills any war crime argument. Dead in it's tracks.

Again there is no point we litigating Israeli so called war crimes on thecoli...
@Alan Johnson do you want to do a bet than Israel does not get convicted of any war crimes? Since you are so confident, I expect you to accept it.

 

[☑︎#VoteDemocrat]

Damning evidence of war crimes as Israeli attacks wipe out entire families in Gaza.

How Does International Humanitarian Law Apply in Israel and Gaza?

I’m not condoning it, but this sounds like collateral damage. This isn’t: Marching a family into the middle of the street and killing them.

 

[Pull Up the Roots]

^^ When Israel gets convicted of a war crime then get back to me. Screaming war crimes does not make it so....I'm sure Israel will also present their evidence of hamas using civilians as human shields. That alone kills any war crime argument. Dead in it's tracks.

Again there is no point we litigating Israeli so called war crimes on thecoli...
@Alan Johnson do you want to do a bet than Israel does not get convicted of any war crimes? Since you are so confident, I expect you to accept it.

Israel doesn't recognize the ICC's jurisdiction. And the US vetoes any and all inquiries into their crimes as a member of the Security Council. They flout the same international laws they try to hold everybody else to. That doesn't change what we know. It doesn't change the reality of Israel's collective punishment. And it doesn't erase what's been documented by various human rights groups. The sad reality is that the worst of us never faces accountability.