Dutch Voters Divided As Election Signals Another Test For Anti-Immigrant Populism

When asked about comparisons between Trump and Wilders on Monday, and what the president thought of Europe’s populist candidates, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said, “We’ll allow sovereign nations to have their elections without interference from us.”On Tuesday, when asked about King’s tweet from Sunday, Spicer said, “The president believes this is not a point of view that he shares”.

“It’s really, really close, I think we haven’t had such a close election for a long time, so it will all depend on turnout”, Dr Van Ham said. The prime minister’s message to those who refused to comply was clear: “Act normal or go away”, the ad said.

This is because it is unlikely that Wilders will become Dutch prime minister later this month: Polls indicate that the Freedom Party will win less than 30 of 150 seats in parliament and – in a context where the country’s elections generally lead to coalition governments – nearly all other groups have ruled out working with him, for now at least, because of some of his extreme views.

Geert Wilders, leader of the Dutch PVV political party, speaks at a conference of European right-wing parties on January 21, 2017 in Koblenz, Germany.

“He is avoiding all the [mainstream] media”.

Yet how often have you seen the bespectacled features of centre-right Prime Minister Mark Rutte on your Twitter feed or in the news?

Making the Netherlands great again?

The sheer array of parties likely to be represented, and their wide range of ideological positions, will make for complex negotiations – particularly given all major parties have sworn to exclude Mr Wilders from consideration. Wilders, who has said he would bar immigrants to the Netherlands from Muslim countries, says that he has already won the election because on policies “everyone is moving toward us”. This trend has reversed over the last few weeks, however. “I disagree with the way he wants to solve things without offering real solutions”.

Wilders has vowed to shut mosques, ban the Quran and close the country’s borders. The move sparked a diplomatic standoff, with Turkey promising sanctions and retaliatory measures while barring the Dutch ambassador from returning to Turkey.

The row started when Turkish ministers were barred from campaigning in Holland as Erdogan tries to gain support among expats for an upcoming referendum which could grant him new powers. The authorities also prevented Family and Social Affairs Minister Fatma Betul Sayan Kaya from entering the Turkish consulate in Rotterdam and had police escort her to Germany.

Wilders supporter Robert Housmans says, “The ideas that Mr”.

One opinion poll suggested that the spat, and the riots in Rotterdam, had given anti-immigrant parties a boost. Observers predict this time round however, four or even five parties may be needed to reach the 76-seat majority.

Immigration is a widely-discussed issue in German elections to be held on September 24, but the two leading parties favour strong links within the EU.

The new government will nearly certainly exclude Wilders, both because of his extreme positions and because of his volatility in supporting the government from 2010 to 2012; most parties want nothing to do with him, and he too seems to relish opposition more than governing.

Wilders has been cooperating with other far-right parties in the European Union including Marine Le Pen’s National Front in France.

The debate was at its most heated up when it came to immigration, Wilders’ pet subject.

“I’m not a racist, when they live here, they should accept how we Dutch people live”.

Polls indicate Wilders’ Party for Freedom has fallen behind in the polls in the days before the election and trails Rutte.