Derk Stokmans: The dilemma facing mainstream Dutch parties
Analysis
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Independent Minds
The scenario that many Dutch politicians feared has become a reality.
The resounding success of Geert Wilders in the European elections riled the continent but it is here in the Netherlands that the ramifications will be most keenly felt. Mr Wilders says his victory is a condemnation of the current coalition, comprised of the Christian Democrats, the Labour Party and a small orthodox Christian party. They, of course, deny that's the case, and point to low turnout and all kinds of other incidental and European causes that have nothing to do with national politics.
But behind the scenes, many political parties are more worried than ever. Up until the vote on Thursday, Mr Wilder's opponents were able to publicly disregard the rising popularity of the right-winger by highlighting the fickleness of the opinion polls. They have abandoned that argument now. The mainstream politicians hoped that the people who said they would vote for Mr Wilders would not actually show up at the polls. But they did, and might do so again.
His fans have made it clear that they are not just driven by his anti-European agenda, so it's plausible that they will turn out for the 2010 local elections and national elections scheduled for 2011.
One of the main attractions is Mr Wilder's anti-Islamic stance, but he has also wooed voters generally disaffected with the political system. That he understands this, can be seen by his recent frontal attack on the "moral disintegration of the Dutch elite of politicians, judges, civil servants and journalists", who he sees as responsible for everything wrong in Dutch society.
The mainstream political parties have been struggling for two years to find a satisfactory answer to his attacks. Conditioned by generations of participating in coalition governments, they find it difficult to break traditional habits of forging compromises with political opponents, and are uncomfortable with a more confrontational style of politics. This makes them easy targets for Mr Wilders, who ridicules their consensus seeking, and portrays them as weak, ineffective and oblivious to the concerns of "ordinary people".
Ministers from the Labour Party, beaten into third place this election, have already vowed to step up attacks on Mr Wilders, whom they (and all the other parties in parliament) see as a divisive, negative force in Dutch society. Dutch voters will soon see if his competitors can beat the rule-changing politician at his own game.
Derk Stokmans is the Political Editor of the Dutch newspaper, NRC Handelsblad
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Comments
At the moment the headlines are being grabbed by Wilders and by the Taliban. I do not aspire to an uncritical acceptance of the faith, nor an uncritical rejection of all its precepts. I would like the compassionate voice of Islam to speak up, and for papers like The Independent to help it be heard.
Why does media hold voters and general public in such contempt? Do you mean to say that when people are genuinely worried about their own country,their home, their culture, traditions etc. it is extremism?
Extremism is Hugo Chavez or Ahmadenidjad or N.Korean leader. Wilders who stands for hard work, Christian values, respect of any newcomer to the law of his land, less centralization, less EU interference, more business freedom - is an extremist? I guess we're living in a world where reality doesn't matter anymore, only slogans from media do. This is a media communism , same like in the USSR people were told - you live in the freeist, happiest place in the world, and they were made believe that. Is the West going the same path now?
Today's Jews are the Muslims, blamed for everything from unemployment to crime to Jihadi terrorism. The ugly face of fascism is once again welcome in Europe. Italians love it. The EU welcomes Jew-hating Nazi Latvia with its goose-stepping SS veterans and the fascist Croatian Ustashe in its midst without hesitation. Northern European fascism is once again alive and well, from Denmark to Holland to Belgium. In the UK, the spirit of Mosley lives on in the BNP and UKIP. Franco's fans are unrepentant in Spain and the hundreds of thousands he murdered & torured are never mentioned. Fortunately the center - France and Germany - still holds. Those countries have faced their Holocaust crimes and were chastened, the others never did.
Albert Camus's novel The Plague is a parable of fascism. In it he says that fascism is like plague rats, once they get into a town they never leave, lurking forever in the sewers. In Europe it looks like the rats are once again coming out for a big street party.
"...he has also wooed voters generally disaffected with the political system. That he understands this, can be seen by his recent frontal attack on the "moral disintegration of the Dutch elite of politicians, judges, civil servants and journalists", who he sees as responsible for everything wrong in Dutch society.
"The mainstream political parties have been struggling for two years to find a satisfactory answer to his attacks. ...Mr Wilders, who ridicules their consensus seeking, and portrays them as weak, ineffective and oblivious to the concerns of "ordinary people".
"Ministers from the Labour Party, beaten into third place this election, have already vowed to step up attacks on Mr Wilders, whom they (and all the other parties in parliament) see as a divisive, negative force in Dutch society. Dutch voters will soon see if his competitors can beat the rule-changing politician at his own game."
He could be writing this about Britain, Greece, Denmark, France, etc.
What we are actually reading about is a Europe-wide disenchantment of voters with the pro-EU political consensus - particularly the working class in al these countries.
Why don't we see our papers writing about how the working class feel shut out of Europe, because it's obviously a continent-wide phenomenon. Do we have to wait until people riot, as they did in Greece, and then several other European countries?
Apparently, all this is now called moderate.
It's a similar story all over Europe.
Strangely enough, many voters don't really want it. How unreasonable. That must make them extremists.
As long as the speech does not purposely incite violence or is libelous, it is, in fact, speech which offends which needs protecting. Speech which does not offend usually needs no protection, as no one would take offence. And, by the way, the application of hate speech laws in Europe seem to be a bit one sided. Have there been any Imams charged with anti-Jewish hate speech, in spite of recorded evidence? Maybe there are, but I haven't heard of any as of yet.
A start would be to remove the charitable status of all religions. They are no more entitled to have tax relief than people who believe in flying saucers or that CO2 is harmful to life.