The Netherlands: Geert Wilders seen by peers as unreliable, insulting and opportunist

Geert Wilders

Even though Mr. Wilders fashions himself as a populist, anti-establishment politician, or as he likes to call himself, "the champion of  working class Henk and Ingrid’,  he seems in reality to have turned out into quite an opportunist and considered by other politicians to be totally unreliable as a political partner.

His unreliability at first was well camouflaged but came in to the open when about two years ago he signed a governing agreement with two major Dutch "establishment" political parties, the VVD and the Christian Democrats. In this agreement, even though he promised to support the minority government of Rutte, he distanced himself from it by not joining the actual cabinet of the Government.

Looking back at it today one realizes that even this "physical" distance was not enough for Wilders. Governing in a coalition system which has always been the Dutch norm in politics also requires compromise. Mr Wilders, to the contrary, ridiculing this very Dutch culture of compromise.

Wilders also used his Government "inside/outside" position" to insult cultures, religions and  people, like the President of Turkey during his state visit to the Netherlands, his Freedom Party started a website inviting people to complain about Polish immigrants, Wilders also condemned the Queen for wearing a headscarf when visiting a mosque in Oman, and at Ground Zero in New York he spoke out against Islam.

More recent, attempting to explain why he walked out of the austerity negotiations with his partners in the Dutch Government, Wilders lashed out at the European Union, saying it was all their fault and that the Netherlands should not blindly obey commands from Brussels.

Sniping at Europe, or bashing away at immigration or non-Judeo-Christian religions gave Wilders quite an audience in the past and initially he scored very well in the polls and in the voting booth.

Obviously today the question is if the Dutch voter will once again fall for this charlatan politician, or will his party, the PVV, which presently is in turmoil self destruct, just like it did for the party of his populist predecessor Pim Fortuyn? Time will tell.

EU-Digest