Today we are one step away from the worst government in Holland since 1940. A government kept hostage by a right-wing nut case who’s abject anti-Islam political agenda will divide our country, drive our citizens to the boiling point and make our country a prime target for lunatics.
So what is going on then?
On Saturday February 20th this year, our government fell, after arguments over the Dutch continuation of a military mission in Afghanistan in 2010.
The four parties that formed the government up to that time, consisted of the CDA (Christian Democratic Appeal), VVD (People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy), ChristenUnie (ChristianUnion) and the PvdA (Party of Labour). The latter withdrew from the government because they did not want to continue the mission (previously it was agreed not to do so, but VVD and CDA were trying to find ways to do it anyway). As a result our cabinet, government fell.
So on June 9th 2010 we held elections in Holland. The outcome was nothing more than a shock to the political system. Never before did Dutch voters split up our political landscape more than this time. It seemed that no one knew who, or what to vote for.
The CDA lost almost half of its seats in parliament and took the biggest beating in history falling to 21 seats (traditionally the CDA has been in more coalition governments than other parties, since the mid-’70’s). The VVD became the biggest party with 31 seats, the PvdA second biggest with 30 seats and the radical anti-Islam party the PVV became third biggest with 24 seats. Final proof that our citizens are fed up with politics.
To form a government in Holland, political parties have to work together to form a coalition that traditionally needs a majority (76 out of the 150 seats in parliament). It’s nothing like the system in the US where either the Democrats or Republicans win and just form a government.
As such all major political parties in Holland spend the last months trying to form some kind of coalition. The problem however, was that there were too many parties needed to form a majority coalition for parliament (76 seats). As a result the formation became one of the weirdest in Dutch history.
First the “informateur”, who’s job it is to form a government, tried to get the VVD, CDA and PvdA together, possibly with some extra left wing parties. This, however failed miserably. And soon enough it turned out that other options didn’t look to be viable as well.
So instead they turned to the other big winner: Geert Wilders from the PVV. A man known for his insane Islamophobic ideas:
Islam is the Trojan Horse in Europe. If we do not stop Islamification now, Eurabia and Netherabia will just be a matter of time. One century ago, there were approximately 50 Muslims in the Netherlands. Today, there are about 1 million Muslims in this country. Where will it end? We are heading for the end of European and Dutch civilisation as we know it.
A man who in a 2007 news article called the Koran a “fascist book”, that should be outlawed in the Netherlands, like Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf because according to him: “The book incites hatred and killing and therefore has no place in our legal order”. A man who calls the Islamic culture “retarded” in comparison with our own culture.
Yes ladies and gentlemen: we turned to a political party who’s main agenda it is trying to divide and conquer the Dutch political landscape. And so far he is getting away with it.
So where are we now? Well the “informateur” started talks to see if a government of the VVD, CDA and the PVV was a possibility as this combination would have exactly 76 seats in parliament. However, this would also mean that the PVV of Geert Wilders would have to take government responsibility by appointing some ministers as well.
But in a truly brilliant tactical move, Wilders has avoided taking any responsibility by cleverly supporting a monority cabinet by VVD and CDA without taking part in the cabinet or government himself.
This way Wilders can disguise the fact that the PVV has no good politicians with any experience whatsoever, but still have a major influence on what will happen the next years. Taking part in a cabinet would without a doubt have hurt the PVV because most members are charlatans without any knowledge of politics or experience in government.
Indeed it is a dark time for anyone who stands for the fundamental democratic principles of our Dutch society: freedom of speech and the right to freely practice religion according to one’s beliefs.
I am sure that both the VVD and CDA will find out very soon how much of a “puppet on a string” they will be once Wilders starts pressuring them into doing things they don’t like. Dividing and conquering.
As a result more and more people will buy into the ideas of the PVV and when the government falls, we will soon have the cabinet “Wilders I”.
If you want to know more about Wilders, just take a look at these videos: