Parliamentary Election: Have ‘The Winds Of Change’ Reached Netherlands?

An exit poll for Wednesday’s parliamentary election in the Netherlands showed far-right, anti-Islam populist Geert Wilders has won the most votes. The election will be watched closely across Europe as the outcome could be a political quake – felt beyond the country’s borders.

Wilders’ PVV or Party for Freedom is on course to be the largest party in the Dutch parliament. The exit poll was published as voting ended in the general election. It can have a margin of error of up to three seats but generally is accurate within one or two seats.

“No Party Can Ignore Us Any Longer”

The lawmaker, who has previously been labelled a Dutch version of Donald Trump, has recently tried to smooth out his image. He earlier said there were more problems of greater importance than reducing the number of refugees and has muted some of his anti-Islam views.

But Wilders will have to form a coalition government before he can take the reins of power. That will be tough as mainstream political parties have long expressed their reluctance to join forces with the lawmaker and his Party for Freedom.

The exit poll put the PVV at 35 seats. An alliance of the centre-left Labor Party and Green Left came in second, at 25 seats, while the People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) got 24 seats. “No party can ignore us any longer,” Wilders said in his first reaction to the polling.

“Continued Threat Of The Far-Right Is Real”

After the long leadership of Mark Rutte, the Dutch are looking for a change in the way of governing, according to experts. No party is predicted to win more than 20% of the vote, implying a lengthy discussion will be necessary to form a coalition.

Far right figures from across Europe celebrated the PVV’s performance. Viktor Orbán, the Prime Minister of Hungary, said “the winds of change are here”. Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, highlighted “the continued threat of the far-right is real and on our doorstep”.