by- Rick MorrenThe latest political poll published in the Netherlands shows left and right wing parties would each control about 50% of the vote if a general election was held today. Obviously this would mean a prolonged cabinet formation requiring several parties to form a coalition government. In another poll taken right after the fall of the Balkenende coalition government on February 20, the results also showed that the neo-conservative PVV ( Party For Freedom) had become the Netherlands largest party.
Since general elections won't be held until June 9 this year it won't become immediately apparent what this has done to the Dutch political landscape. This means that all eyes are now fixed on Wednesday's Dutch municipal elections, where the controversial far-right PVV of “Muslim hater” Geert Wilders will participate in the cities of the Hague and Almere.
Wilders chose Almere and the Hague because these two cities, in addition to Rotterdam and Amsterdam, have the largest concentrations of immigrants. In the case of Almere ( population 170.000 plus) the population is composed of 38 percent Suriname immigrants, 10 percent Turkish, 8 percent Moroccan, 3 percent from the Netherlands Antilles, 2 percent immigrants from other countries and 39 percent of Dutch origin. Together these immigrants come from some 181 nations, making Almere not only one of the most modern, because of its avant-garde architecture, but also one of the most culturally diverse cities in Europe.
Wilders immediately went on the attack when he recently spoke in Almere , “dear people, first, a general notice. If people from the PvdA (Labour party) are present here tonight: here is a message for you. At the end of the speech, I will hand out my speech in Arabic and Turkish so that you can understand what I have said, because the party of Wouter Bos speaks mainly Arabic and Turkish. By now you will certainly have read about the PvdA election pamphlet being distributed in Arabic and Turkish. But do you also know what it says? Have you been able to read it? Probably not. Well, I have tried to translate it for you, and it says something like this: “immigrants bring over your whole family, because money grows on trees here” and he went on, “the PvdA takes good care of its voting-cattle.” Wilders also announced in Almere that if his party wins there he will forbid the wearing of headscarves in public buildings, forbid the building of new Mosques and cut the municipal civil service staff budget by 15 percent.
Obviously, with such large concentrations of immigrants in Almere and the Hague, Mr. Wilders is taking a calculated risk by expecting that the immigrants will not turn out in mass to vote against his party. Right now all the bets seem to be in his favor. Statistics from past elections show that most immigrants have stayed away from the voting booth when it comes to election time. If this happens again during the March 3 municipal elections, preliminary polls show that the PVV of Wilders' will win 30 percent of the vote in Almere, followed by the Labour Party ( Socialist) with 20 percent. In case, however, if the D66 (Democrats 66) and the CDA (Christian Democrats) together get the expected 35 percent of the vote, they could probably still stop Geert Wilders in getting a foothold in the Almere's municipal council, by forming a coalition with the PvdA Labour Party. But nothing is certain.
The word that must go out to all immigrants in the Netherlands, and specifically those in Almere and the Hague is that they have to use their democratic right to vote this Wednesday. Immigrants have chosen to live in the Netherlands, where everyone's vote is counted. No one is excluded. By using their right to vote, legal immigrants by their numbers and convictions can participate in stopping any onslaught of double standards and fear in the Dutch political system. John Kennedy once said: "The great enemy of truth is very often not the lie, deliberate, contrived and dishonest; but the myth, persistent, persuasive and realistic".
EU-Digest
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