Wilders Won’t Become Dutch Premier Despite Election Victory
By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
AMSTERDAM/THE HAGUE (Worthy News) – The leader of the Dutch Anti-Islam Party for Freedom (PVV) said Wednesday he won’t become the next prime minister of the Netherlands despite his party’s election victory, but he didn’t rule out such a role in the future.
Geert Wilders, who is among Europe’s most pro-Israel politicians, said one or more political partners with whom he tries to form a government objected to him leading a cabinet.
“I can only become prime minister if all parties in the coalition support it. That was not the case,” Wilders wrote on social media platform X, previously known as Twitter.
“The love for my country and the voter is great and more important than my own position,” he stressed in comments seen by Worthy News.
However, Wilders clarified that he and his party still want to be involved in a “right-wing cabinet” in some form following the recent November elections.
He explained that such a government would seek “less asylum and immigration,” adding that the Dutch should be again “number one” on the political wishlists.
Large firms, including the Netherlands’ largest company, ASML, fear tougher migrant policies could further deteriorate the nation’s business climate.
TECHNICAL CABINET
While the semiconductor equipment maker’s CEO has since ruled out a “total“ departure from the Netherlands, other major firms are also considering options, including moving their headquarters.
Wilders’ comment came after sources familiar with the talks said the leaders of all four parties involved in drawn-out coalition negotiations would remain in parliament.
That sets up the likelihood of a technical Cabinet made up of experts with the PVV in the driving seat.
Wilders spent Monday and Tuesday in talks with leaders of the conservative-liberal People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), the populist Farmer Citizen Movement (BBB), and the centrist New Social Contract.
Wilders, 60, later hastened to add that he did not exclude becoming prime minister after new elections as the PVV is surging in the polls. “And don’t forget: I will still become prime minister of the Netherlands. With support from even more Dutch people,” he wrote on X.
“If not tomorrow, then the day after tomorrow. Because the voices of millions of Dutch people will be heard!” Wilders pledged.
There have been tensions during the negotiations over a government over his past anti-Islam rhetoric and calls to close mosques and ban the Koran, deemed a holy book by Muslims.
DONALD DUCK
Wilders said he would not repeat his demands but would not express regret over his previous anti-Islam remarks, such as comparing the Koran with a Donald Duck cartoon book.
He has been forced to live under strict security measures amid concerns Islamic extremists could kill him.
Wilders said despite the difficulties, he
continues to fight against antisemitism in the Netherlands, which he believes is at least partly linked to Muslim immigration.
The PVV leader condemned Sunday’s riots around the opening of the National Holocaust Museum in Amsterdam, where an elderly Holocaust survivor was insulted by pro-Palestine protesters.
Slogans were heard, such as “Hamas are my brothers,” referring to the group that carried out the October 7 massacre against Israel in which 1,200 people were killed, including raped women and children.
Wilders told Israeli President Isaac Herzog, who visited the Netherlands, that he supported Israel’s war “against terrorism.”
He and other politicians have also expressed concern that Dutch Jews are considering leaving the country following Sunday’s violent protests.
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