Dutch party leaders clash in TV debate as election nears
Senay Boztas
Dutch party leaders have clashed in a tetchy televised debate, as the Netherlands election campaign entered its final days.
The country’s six main party leaders confronted each other in Rotterdam on Monday night, as a poll suggested Frans Timmermans’ GreenLeft/Labour was neck and neck – on 27 seats of a total 150 – with the party that has led the past four governments, the People’s party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) under Dilan Yeşilgöz-Zegerius.
The poll also showed a six-seat gain to 26 seats for Geert Wilders’ anti-Islam Party for Freedom, which has been campaigning on distrust in government and an immigration “stop”. Support for the centre-right backbencher Pieter Omtzigt and his New Social Contract dropped four seats to 21 – although after the poll was taken, Omtzigt said he would be a prime ministerial candidate, one uncertainty that was troubling voters.
During the debate, the six main party leaders, including Farmer-Citizen Movement’s Caroline van der Plas and liberal democratic D66 leader Rob Jetten, interrupted each other and failed to agree on any subjects except the housing crisis.
The ill-tempered spectacle came as the poll suggested that a previous survey last week – which showed a surge for the far-right Party for Freedom – may also have galvanised progressive votes for GreenLeft/Labour.
People’s party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) leader Dilan Yesilgoz and GroenLinks/PvdA Frans Timmermans during the EenVandaag election debate in Rotterdam. Photograph: Koen van Weel/EPA
Dutch party leaders clashed in a tetchy televised debate on Monday night as the Netherlands election campaign entered its final days. The six main party leaders interrupted each other and failed to agree on any subjects except the housing crisis.
The last pre-election poll, published today, showed the far-right Party for Freedom (PVV) on course to win 28 seats. The People’s party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) and Green-Labour alliance (GL/PvdA) were on course for 27 seats each. Due to the margin of error, the three parties are considered at the moment to be tied.
The VVD head, Dilan Yeşilgöz-Zegerius, ruled out joining a government with the far-right PVV if the PVV gets the most votes. She said she was prepared to talk to the PVV leader, Geert Wilders, about coalition-forming if VVD was the largest party.
The far-right Forum for Democracy leader, Thierry Baudet, said he was continuing with his campaign, after he was hit with a beer bottle.
Rem Korteweg, a senior research fellow at the Clingendael Institute, said today that the “only surprise” in the Dutch campaign was the rise of the far-right candidate Wilders over the past days and that when it comes to a new coalition, the big question remained whether Wilders is excluded or not.
Sarah de Lange, a political scientist at the University of Amsterdam, underscored that even in the final pre-election opinion poll, 63% of respondents were not completely decided.
The Dutch government’s failure to develop a workable political solution to the problem of excess nitrogen has shaken the country’s politics to its foundations.
In the Netherlands it is known simply as the stikstofcrisis, the nitrogen crisis. An environmental reform that at first glance seemed to affect only a small proportion of Dutch society has somehow become not only wildly controversial in its own right, but embroiled in a web of related and unrelated issues, grievances and conspiracy theories.
Check out Paul Tullis’ long read on the nitrogen wars: the Dutch farmers’ revolt that turned a nation upside down.
Sarah de Lange, a political scientist at the University of Amsterdam, makes the point that even in the final pre-election opinion poll, 63% of respondents were not completely decided.
Most important sentence in report accompanying the final I&O poll in the Netherlands: on Nov 21st 63 percent of respondents had not yet settled on their final vote choice https://t.co/8GQ2wHZJbe
Here are pictures from the Netherlands today, as the country gears up for tomorrow’s election.
A board shows Dutch party leader of VVD, Dilan Yesilgoz-Zegerius ahead of the parliamentary election in Rotterdam. Photograph: Yves Herman/Reuters
FVD leader Thierry Baudet talking to the media in the House of Representatives, a day after the party leader was hit on the head with an object during an election event in Groningen. Photograph: Hollandse Hoogte/Shutterstock
A person rides past election campaign posters on a hoarding in Breda. Photograph: Yves Herman/Reuters
“Good governance is our absolute top priority,” New Social Contract candidate Pieter Omtzigt says as parties make last-minute appeals to voters.
Te vaak maken politici snelle ondoordachte keuzes, waar ze later op terugkomen.
Goed bestuur gaat over het nemen van doordachte, weloverwogen besluiten, die burgers beschermen Bij ons is goed bestuur absolute topprioriteit. Wij hebben uitgewerkte plannen voor échte verandering…
Far-right Forum for Democracy leader Thierry Baudetsaid today that he is all right and continuing with his campaign. He was hit with a beer bottle yesterday.
FVD leader Thierry Baudet talking to the media in the House of Representatives, a day after the party leader was assaulted during an election meeting in Groningen. Photograph: Hollandse Hoogte/Shutterstock
The D66 leader Rob Jetten is criticising VVD candidate Dilan Yesilgöz-Zegerius’s stance on Geert Wilders.
“People see through this,” he said.
Earlier, Yesilgöz-Zegerius said she was prepared to talk to Wilders about forming a coalition if the VVD was the largest party.
Aha. Nu komt de aap uit de mouw! Mevrouw Yeşilgöz wil regeren met Wilders, maar dan moet ze wel zélf de premierspost krijgen. Mensen zien hier doorheen.
Maak D66 groot. Optimistisch aan de slag voor het klimaat, onderwijs en een land waar iedereen thuis is. https://t.co/w6i994Z0gR
Yeşilgöz-Zegerius rules out joining government led by far right
Senay Boztas
The head of the People’s party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), Dilan Yeşilgöz-Zegerius ,has ruled out joining a government with the far-right Party for Freedom (PVV) if it is voted the largest party.
The new leader of the prime minister Mark Rutte’s party told NPO Radio 1 on Tuesday morning that she would not sit in a government led by Geert Wilders.
“Firstly, I don’t see Wilders coming first,” she said.
She added:
I think the Dutch are looking for a leader of the country who can connect people, who keeps things together, who is there for all Dutch people, who can also lead our country internationally … and I don’t see Wilders forming a majority. I don’t see it happening and I won’t do it. A prime minister Wilders would not be good for this country.
Nevertheless, Yeşilgöz-Zegerius said she was prepared to talk to Wilders about coalition-forming if she was the largest party “but it is evident that there are big differences between the VVD and Timmermans [of GreenLeft/Labour] and the VVD and Wilders”.
(Left to right) Socialist party (SP) leader Lilian Marijnissen, Party for Freedom (PVV) leader Geert Wilders, and People’s party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) leader Dilan Yesilgoz-Zegerius before a debate in Eindhoven. Photograph: Robin Utrecht/EPA
A minor has been arrested under the suspicion that he assaulted Thierry Baudet yesterday, NRC reported, citing the ANP news agency.
Baudet, leader of the far-right Forum for Democracy, was hit on the head with a beer bottle.
Zojuist heeft een traumachirurg @thierrybaudet behandeld in het UMCG. Hij is met een bierfles op zijn achterhoofd geslagen en tevens net naast zijn oog op de rand van zijn slaap geraakt. Een beveiliger raakte eveneens gewond aan zijn gezicht. We zijn ons aan het beraden of het…
Explainer: Everything you need to know about the Dutch election
Jon Henley
Dutch voters cast their ballots tomorrow in a snap parliamentary election called after the collapse in July of the outgoing coalition government headed by Mark Rutte, the EU’s second longest-serving leader after Hungary’s Viktor Orbán.
The savvy liberal-conservative, a fixture at EU summits since 2010, failed to overcome “irreconcilable differences” in his fragile four-party coalition over migration policy – and announced soon after resigning that he was giving up national politics.
The departure of the Dutch political scene’s great survivor means that for the first time in more than 13 years and four different coalition governments, the Netherlands will get a new leader. Quite who it will be, however, is very hard to say.
Four parties – Rutte’s People’s party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), a Green-Labour alliance (GL/PvdA), Geert Wilders’ anti-Islam Party for Freedom (PVV) and New Social Contract (NSC), a brand-new party led by a popular former Christian Democrat MP – are vying for the lead in the polls.
None, however, looks likely to win more than 20% of the vote and, as ever, the next Dutch government – invariably an influential player on the EU and international stage – will emerge only after coalition negotiations that could well last months.
Dilan Yesilgoz (VVD), Geert Wilders (PVV), Pieter Omtzigt (NSC), Rob Jetten (D66) and Pieter Jan Hagens during the EenVandaag election debate in Rotterdam. Photograph: Hollandse Hoogte/Shutterstock
The GreenLeft/Labour candidate, Frans Timmermans, is making the case that the left will ensure a return to trust.
If the left becomes the largest, we will show everyone that we are making the Netherlands more honest. In this way we ensure that trust in each other returns.
Als links de grootste wordt, dan gaan we aan iedereen laten zien dat wij Nederland eerlijker maken. Zo zorgen we ervoor dat het vertrouwen in elkaar weer terugkomt.
