Geert Wilders aims to become Dutch PM after shock election win

The Netherlands is facing complex and potentially lengthy coalition talks as Geert Wilders, whose far-right, anti-Islam Party for Freedom (PVV) is expected to be the largest in the Dutch parliament in a shock election result, vowed to try to become prime minister and to call a referendum on its membership of the EU.

In an electoral upset whose reverberations will be felt around Europe and that was welcomed by far-right leaders including France’s Marine Le Pen and Hungary’s Viktor Orbán, the PVV won 37 seats in the 150-seat parliament, more than double its previous number. Its manifesto included calls for bans on mosques, the Qur’an, and the wearing of Islamic headscarves in government buildings.

Wilders told Dutch media on Thursday that he wanted to be prime minister and that he was in favour of a referendum on whether the Netherlands should leave the EU. “But the first thing is a significant restriction on asylum and immigration,” Wilders said.

“We don’t do that for ourselves, we do that for all Dutch people who voted for us … who are fed up how things have gone in the Netherlands in recent years, who think Dutch people should be number one again, with stricter immigration policy, more houses also for the Dutch, with decent healthcare, more money in wallets instead of throwing away billions. We will work on a new politics, together with other parties … the Dutch deserve it and it will happen that the PVV comes in the next government.”

The PVV MP Martin Bosma told the Telegraaf newspaper that Wilders as prime minister “would be very good for the Netherlands and we are ready for it. I don’t know if it will happen but he could do it. He is ready for the PM’s tower and it would be very fine.”

Wilders will need other parties to join him in a coalition to govern with majority support in parliament. A coalition of Wilder’s PVV, the VVD of the outgoing conservative prime minister, Mark Rutte, and the NSC party of the centrist lawmaker Pieter Omtzigt would have 81 seats combined, but neither potential partner would be willing to leave the EU or violate Dutch constitutional guarantees on freedom of religion.

Both parties met on Thursday to discuss whether they want to work in coalition with Wilders. Dilan Yeşilgöz-Zegerius, the leader of VVD which won 24 seats, has since the vote suggested she was sceptical. “I have said that I didn’t see that this country would have a leader who does not bring together all Dutch people … but above all I don’t see a majority forming,” she told Dutch media.

Omtzigt, whose party is centre-right but represents voters from across the political spectrum and won 20 seats, was more nebulous. Congratulating Wilders – and with his Dutch wife of Turkish origin looking to the floor – he said: “We are available to put this trust – which we take very seriously – in deeds from tomorrow.” He added: “I know that as a middle party, as a party with ideals, we need to look at which way this country is governed.”

Coalition talks are expected to take months. Party leaders will meet to decide on an informateur, or explorer – a political outsider who will hear from each party what possibilities they see and prefer in coalition talks.

Frans Timmermans, the head of the new GreenLeft/Labour alliance that won 25 seats, told a party meeting that he would focus on opposition. “People who are worried should know that GreenLeft/Labour is on their side, and we will come together to fight shoulder to shoulder. People, from today, the campaign begins,” he said.

Johan Remkes, a previous informateur and veteran politician, said the parties had a duty to try to make a coalition. “The country has to be governed,” he told Dutch radio. “The parties need to find a way forward and new elections won’t solve anything.”

Caroline van der Plas, the head of the Farmer Citizen Movement and an attractive coalition partner with the most senate seats, told Dutch media: “Two and a half million people who have now voted for the PVV you cannot and you must not ignore.”

The shape of the new coalition could have a significant impact on the Netherlands’ immigration and climate policies and its relations with its European partners. The country was a founding EU member and punches above its weight in the bloc.

Wilders’ win also sends a warning shot to mainstream parties across Europe ahead of the European parliament elections due next June, which are likely to be fought on the same issues as the Dutch election: immigration, cost of living and the climate crisis.

Reactions were mixed on the streets of the Netherlands, and anti-fascist demonstrations have been planned in Amsterdam and Utrecht for Thursday evening. One woman told the broadcaster NOS: “That PVV is the biggest [party] makes me ashamed to be Dutch.”

Although the party that wins the most seats traditionally provides the next prime minister, it is by no means guaranteed to do so. Rutte will remain in a caretaker role until a new government is installed, which may not be before next spring.

Analysts have predicted that coalition negotiations could prove even longer and more complex than after the previous election, in 2021, when four coalition partners took a record 271 days to hammer out an agreement.

Rutte’s fourth and final coalition resigned in July after failing to agree on measures to rein in immigration, one of the key issues of the campaign along with a housing crisis that especially affects Dutch youth, the cost of living, and voter trust in politicians.

Wilders has recently attempted to soften his more hardline anti-Islam language, apparently in the hope of entering a coalition government for the first time, conceding that there were “bigger problems” than bringing down refugee numbers and that he could put some of his anti-Muslim positions “on ice”.