DUTCH GO FOR CONTINUITY, STABILITY
Out-going PM Rutte likely to lead nation for fourth time
THE Dutch centre-left political parties which lead the government in the northwestern European nation did better, whereas the far-right, though dispersed, nevertheless strengthened their positions, while a new political star looks set to shine bright in the coming years, this as the land of windmills is becoming more Euro-centric.
This follows the election for the 150-seat Tweede Kamer der Staten-Generaal, or lower house of the Dutch Parliament, on March 17, which saw an 82.6 per cent voter turnout.
The People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), which is the backbone of the outgoing ruling coalition led by Prime Minister Mark Rutte, gained an additional seat, taking the tally to 34 and emerging as the largest party, while its ally, the Eurocentric Democrats 66 (D66), led by former United Nation diplomat Sigrid Kaag, gained five additional seats to take their tally to 24 seats and emerge as the second biggest party in the Dutch Parliament.
For other members of the outgoing coalition government, the Christian Union (CU) maintained its five seats, whereas the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) faltered when it lost four seats and only retained 15 seats in the polls.
The system of proportional representation, combined with the historical social division between Catholics, Protestants, Socialists and Liberals, has created the current multiparty system in the Netherlands.
The Dutch far-right, meanwhile, saw some surprises of its own involving the Party for Freedom (PVV) and the Forum for Democracy (FvD).
The PVV, led by Islamaphobic politician Geert Wilders, lost some ground when it garnered 17 seats, three less than in the 2017 polls. Despite this, it still emerged as the third-largest party in the polls.
The biggest surprise in the farright camp is the surprise show of Thierry Baudet’s FvD, which quadrupled its existing seat number after gaining six new seats in the mid-week polls.
All-in-all, the far-right parties achieved their best-combined result in recent electoral history, by bagging 29 seats in total.
“But anyone thinking these results spell the end of nationalistpopulist movements in the Netherlands should look closer.
“The PVV lost a few seats but if you combine its vote share with those of two other more recently established radical parties — JA21 and FVD (the only party that campaigned on anti-lockdown and anti-vaccination rhetoric) — the Dutch far-right has won more seats than ever before,” said TheConversation.com
Unlike other European Greenbased parties, The Netherlands own Green party, GroenLinks, fared poorly in the polls winning only eight seats this time around compared to 14 it held previously.
A total of 17 parties, as well as three newcomers, gained seats in the Dutch Parliament.
The winners include the animal rights and welfare-based party, The Party for the Animals, which bagged six seats, the pensioner ’s interest party, 50Plus, and the agrarian political party, Farmer-Citizen Movement, with each garnering one seat.
The nation known for its canals and tulip fields is now involved in a protracted period of negotiations to form the next government, as none of the parties had received an outright majority of seats in the lower house of Parliament, with a simple majority being 76 seats.
The Politico.eu website said that outgoing Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte will now have to work on building a new coalition government out of the Netherlands’ famously fragmented political landscape.
Reports have already indicated that the VVD leader will not have anything to do with the far-right parties as he seeks to form a new coalition government.
TheConversation.com adds that the VVD and D66 working with the Christian Democrats, who lost a few seats, will also need one other party to obtain a parliamentary majority.
The negotiations will also lead to Rutte, who is regularly seen riding his bike to work, to form his fourth cabinet.
Being on the helm for the past 10 years, come this October, the 54-year-old is second only to the late Ruud Lubbers in terms of years served as the Dutch prime minister and will be the oldest serving leader in 2022.
Despite Rutte being in the limelight now, Kaag, the outgoing foreign trade and development cooperation minister, has emerged as a new political star, backed by her D66 improved showing and maintaining their second position in the Dutch Parliament, in terms of seat won.
The DutchReview.com website said the election proved to be a great result for the progressive liberals D66 and has positioned the former diplomat as the “fresh female alternative” for Rutte.
“One way or the other she will have a big say in the new coalition and will be eyeing to beat Rutte in four years,” predicted the portal.
The election results indicate that the message from the Dutch voters is that they want continuity and stability, more so in these current uncertain times.