Geert Wilders Falls Short in Dutch Election, as Wary Dutch Scatter

>“The Netherlands, after Brexit, after the American elections, said ‘Whoa’ to the wrong kind of populism,” Mr. Rutte told a wildly enthusiastic crowd, excited that his party, the People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy, had come in first among the parties and lost fewer seats than it had feared.

>“Today was a celebration of democracy, we saw rows of people queuing to cast their vote, all over the Netherlands — how long has it been since we’ve seen that?” Mr. Rutte said.

>Alexander Pechtold, the leader of Democrats 66, which appeared to have won the most votes of any left-leaning party, struck a similar note underscoring the vote as a victory against a populist extremist.

>“During this election campaign, the whole world was watching us,” Mr. Pechtold said. “They were looking at Europe to see if this continent would follow the call of the populists, but it has now become clear that call stopped here in the Netherlands.”

>According to an unofficial tally compiled by the Dutch Broadcasting Foundation, the country’s public broadcaster, the People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy was likely to capture 33 of the 150 seats in Parliament — a loss of seven seats, but still far more than any other party.

>Mr. Wilders’s Party for Freedom was expected to finish second, with 20 seats (an increase of eight); and the right-leaning Christian Democratic Appeal and the left-leaning Democrats 66 were tied for third, with 19 each, the broadcaster reported.
...

>In the Netherlands, the results betrayed a lingering distrust of turning over the reins of power to the far right, even as its message dominated the campaign and was likely to influence policies in the new government.

>Yet there are limits to how much the Netherlands, one of Europe’s most socially liberal countries, will be a reliable predictor for Europe’s other important elections this year, including next month’s presidential elections in France.

>Mark Bovens, a political scientist at Utrecht University, noted that Mr. Wilders and other right-wing parties, despite their gains, did not drastically cross traditional thresholds.

>“The nationalist parties have won seats, compared to 2012 — Wilders’s party has gained seats, as has a new party, the Forum for Democracy — but their electorate is stable, it has not grown,” Mr. Bovens said.

>Mr. Bovens pointed out that an earlier populist movement led by the right-wing politician Pim Fortuyn had won 26 seats in 2002, and that Mr. Wilders’s won 24 seats in 2010. If Mr. Wilders’s party rises to 20 seats, as the early returns seemed to indicate, it will still be lower than the previous high-water marks.

>“And some of the traditional parties have moved in a more nationalistic direction, taking a bit of wind out of his sails,” he said. “You see the same strategy in Germany.”

>The German governing coalition led by Chancellor Angela Merkel, which is facing a stiff election challenge of its own this year, was clearly buoyed by the Dutch result, its foreign ministry sending a warmly enthusiastic message via Twitter.
...

>“Large majority of Dutch voters have rejected anti-European populists. That’s good news. We need you for a strong #Europe!” it read.

>In the Netherlands’s extremely fractured system of proportional representation — 28 parties ran and 13 are likely to have positions in the 150-seat lower house of Parliament — the results were, not atypically, something of a dog’s breakfast.

>Mr. Rutte’s party lost seats, even as it came out on top, and will need to join forces with several others in order to wield power. Virtually all parties said they would not work with Mr. Wilders in a coalition — so toxic he remains — though his positions are likely to infuse parliamentary debate.

>“Rutte has not seen the last of me yet!” Mr. Wilders wrote on Twitter, and indeed his anti-immigrant message, which dominated much of the campaign, was not likely to go away.

>It came into particularly sharp relief on the eve of the election, when Turkey’s foreign minister sought to enter the Netherlands to rally support among Turks in Rotterdam for a referendum to increase the power of the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Dutch officials refused him landing rights.

>Mr. Wilders, who has seemed to relish being called the “Dutch Donald Trump,” has been so extreme that some appear to have thought twice about supporting him.
...

>He has called for banning the Quran because he compares it to Hitler’s work “Mein Kampf,” which the Netherlands banned, and for closing mosques and Islamic cultural centers and schools.

>Election turnout was high, with polling places seeing a steady stream of voters from early morning until the polls closed at 9 p.m. Of the 12.9 million Dutch citizens eligible to cast ballots, more than 80 percent voted.

>Some polling places ran out of ballots and called for additional ones to be delivered. There were so many candidates listed that the ballots were as voluminous as bath towels and had to be folded many times over to fit into the ballot box.

>The percentage of the vote that a party receives translates into the number of seats it will get in Parliament. If a party gets 10 percent of the total votes, it gets 10 percent of seats in the 150-seat Parliament, given to its first 15 candidates listed on the ballot.

>The election was a success for the left-leaning Green Party, led by 30-year-old Jesse Klaver, a relative political newcomer, whose leadership at least tripled the party’s seats, making it the fifth-place finisher and potentially a part of the government.

>Mr. Klaver ran specifically on an anti-populist platform and worked hard to turn out first-time voters.

>“In these elections there was an overwhelming attention from the foreign press, which is understandable because Brexit happened and Trump was elected, and because France, Germany and maybe Italy will be holding elections,” Mr. Klaver said. “They asked us: Will populism break through in the Netherlands?”

>The crowd shouted: “No.”
...

>“That is the answer that we have for the whole of Europe: Populism did not break through,” Mr. Klaver said.

>Another striking development was the first-time election of former Labor Party members, all three of Turkish background, who formed a new party, Denk (which means “think”). It will be the only ethnic party in the Dutch Parliament and is a reminder that Turks are the largest immigrant community in the Netherlands. There are roughly 400,000 first, second, or third-generation Turkish immigrants in the nation.

>The big loser was the center-left Labor Party, which was expected to drop from being the second largest party in Parliament, with 38 seats and a position as Mr. Rutte’s coalition partner. The party was expected to win only nine seats.

>In past elections the impact of extremist right-leaning parties has been largely blunted by a political system that for more than a century has resulted in governance by coalition.

>This year’s election may give the Netherlands its most fragmented government in history. Some political analysts believe it could take weeks or months to form a government and that the governing coalition will be fragile.

>In Belgium, which has a similar political system as the Netherlands, it famously took nearly a year and a half after inconclusive elections in June 2010 to form a government.

>>122406
>full article double space man hasn't been banned yet

No mods no janitors, only shitposting

>>122438
>reading is hard!! where are the mods??!!? bawwwww

>>122440
>compulsively needs to spam the entirety of pro-bias'd articles on /news/ or becomes violently irate
You might as well just start sabotaging the thread with your hyperbolic strawman as per usual.

>>122443
I'm not even the OP. You need to go outside anon. If only for a few moments of fresh air.

>>122446
>I somehow know exactly what you're talking about but I swear I'm not him!

T minus _ till sabotage?

The reason that dude lost is simple, he was too far fucking rightwing. He went all the way hardcore fuck immigrants and got no fucking votes from centrists or lefty's. He should have just campaigned on increased security of their borders and reducing the number of immigrants they let in. But he just let his hate-flag wave high and free like he was trying to prove he was the dumbest politician in a largely liberal country. BAD AT POLITICS.


>>122443
its the fucking nytimes bro. This is /news/ not /trumpdicksucking/

>>122447
I'm not OP either, but you need to go back to your board where everything fits your narrative. You look like a fucking fool right now dude.

Your paranoia is a dead giveaway.

>>122450
>its the fucking NY Correction/Redacted Times bro
>This is /leftcirclejerking/ not /trumpdicksucking/
FTFY. And I know.

>>122451
>you need to go back to your board
This is my board now.

>where everything fits your narrative
I'm not due into reality for another two hours.

>You look like a fucking fool right now dude.
You should post the double-spaced entirety of another article and then call other people fools again. It's great.

>>122447
Wait, what? You're painting random anonymous posters with weird generalizations that exist only in your mind. Seek help m8.

>>122457
>You're painting random anonymous posters with weird generalizations that exist only in your mind
No, just you, seeing as how you keep taking personal offense to it because you know I'm right. And you'll respond. Sad!

>>122406
Looks like the Dutch voters were Geert towards common sense

>>122465
It proves that "de-islamification" isn't a viable campaign platform to run on.

>>122438
Wow the reddit is faggot with this one

>>122443
I think you're mixed up. There is a liberal false flagger around here though.

>>122465
Shitty pun to match your shitty opinions

>>122406
I don't understand all the enthusiasm about Wilders supposedly losing the election. He's the second biggest party and got more seats than in the last election. Granted, his party didn't do as well as many predicted, but still.

>>122484
It beWilders me that people actually wanted that jackass in office

>>122484
you think him losing the election is an opinion?

a human that smokes pot cannot be 'racist' or conservative in long term, that's what we are seeing in holland's current situation.

>>122542
Now you know how Hillary and her supporters feel. They gained a few token seats in the US congress too, just like Geerts party in holland.

>>122547
>huh?

Protip read better

>>122545
Now this pun is irrefutable

>>122562
But that is different. For the US presidency, it was either Hillary or Trump. For the Dutch government, there are many combinations for a formation possible. He's not out of the game, far from it.

>>122756
>For the Dutch government, there are many combinations for a formation possible. He's not out of the game, far from it.
That's moot, as none of the other major parties want to work with him.

>>122756
And he'll try his best to get into the office. Sad thing is, almost all Dutch-Muslims hold some kind of grudge towards him. Total anarchy would happen here. Dividing our country between the 'Aryans"/Autochtonous citizens and the Muslims. If that would happen I will be the first one to create some kind of 50 Blessings organisation lol

>>122406
>far right
>extreme

>>122812
How are they not extremists? Do you really think some kind of majority of people somewhere shares those views?

>>122450
> The reason that dude lost is simple, he was too far fucking rightwing.

Parliamentary systems are inherently shit.

They favor inept and incompetent political parties who gang up to defeat any candidates who can actually make a difference, leaving the people with the worst officials who make nobody happy and can’t get anything done.

You can't make all the people happy all the time and trying to do so, only leaves everybody worse off.

>>122839
>being the minority makes you XTREME

>>122936
In the minority is the only place you will ever find extremists.

>>122938
>In the minority is the only place you will ever find extremists.

Nonsense, the majority of Muslim are extremists by majority of Western standards.

Most Aztecs were cool with chopping out people's hearts, which is pretty extreme by any definition and they were the majority.

>>122934
as opposed to say the american system where every candidate is views as the next coming of god and the opponent the literally devil...

and still can't get anything done

i'll take my parliamentary system where at least all the voters know that they're all a bunch of cunts in suits

>>122946
>at least all the voters know that they're all a bunch of cunts in suits

We know all our candidates are assholes also but at least our winner-take-all elected officials can do something _within_ the system even in the face of opposition.

A parliamentary system insures government is dumbed down at every level, in an impossible attempt to please everybody from dozens of otherwise irrelevant meme political parties.

Winner Take All = put you money where your mouth is
Parliamentary Shit = cry like a bitch and derail anything that might work

>>122938
the fuck

>>122958
Are you implying things don't get derailed in America? Just look at what a mess your healthcare system is, and for what reasons.
It's all because people would rather stick to their ideology than just produce something that works but may not be "pure" ideologically.

T. parliamentary/federalist democracy with working healthcare system

>>122963
>T. parliamentary/federalist democracy with working healthcare system

>which works because we don't have to fund a military
>Thanks America you stupid bigots

>>122958
>A parliamentary system insures government is dumbed down at every level, in an impossible attempt to please everybody from dozens of otherwise irrelevant meme political parties.

On the contrary, when you have a winner take all system like in the US, the pace of progress isn't slow; it's nonexistant.

We get ultrapolarization because we have fewer parties and your party has to push for everything you want whenever you're in power. Whenever the other party gets into power, they work on undoing all the legislative progress made the term before.

Forcing consensus policies ensures incremental but stable progress. Winner take all ensures a rollercoaster that drops us off where we got on.

>>122465
That's not how you pronounce Geert. Good to know anons are posting corny one-liners in my absence tho

>>122963
> Just look at what a mess your healthcare system is, and for what reasons.

You guys literally have Muslims rioting in the street and the guy saying; “hay, maybe we shouldn’t import more Muslims?” gets knocked out of the election by a coalition of pandering shit parties with no valid solutions of their own, gaming the system and ganging up on him.

America doesn’t have a health care system, we have a health care _industry_ but that’s not because of our winner-take-all election system, it’s because ALL our candidates are owned by Wall Street to one extant or another.

>>122983
> Forcing consensus policies ensures incremental but stable progress.

No it doesn’t, it promotes mediocracy and dilutes any possible solution by presenting any and every fringe kook party’s platform as being equally valid and automatically worth consideration.

Why the fuck would I come to a “consensus” with a party espousing an anti-gun platform or calling for Sharia law, for example?

>>123022
>?” gets knocked out of the election by a coalition of pandering shit parties
like what's going on in the US?

>>123029
>like what's going on in the US?

No, our officials are elected based on their appeal to the voters, not parliamentary party shenanigans subverting the will of the People.

And before you say; "what about the Electoral College, huh?!" that's not backroom dealing, that's an accepted condition to insure the whole country is represented and which applies up-front to all candidates going into the election

>>123039
>No, our officials are elected based on their appeal to the voters, not parliamentary party shenanigans subverting the will of the People.
Pretty sure they're largely elected based on "I don't like democrats, but republicans are even worse" and vice versa.

>>123022
If you define mediocrity as not extreme, then sure, but the optimal policy solutions for any given society will tend to address all popular grievances.

>Why the fuck would I come to a “consensus” with a party espousing an anti-gun platform or calling for Sharia law, for example?

As far as anti-gun legislation, you might not agree with it but one can at least respect that gun crime is a valid concern and that maybe gun control legislation could help to address that. Again, you won't get everything you want always, that's not how any sensible government for humans can work. But you won't have the next party in office undoing all progress made the previous term in order to get everything they want for several years and anticipating government may swing the other end of the pendulum right afterwards.

As far as Sharia law, you don't want to compromise with anyone calling for Sharia law, but you also don't want to risk inability to compromise with that party in a winner-take-all scenario.

>>123039
>not understanding the reference to the courts bashing Trump's bans
fag

>>122450
He's a leftwinger.
>>122756
No party will work together with him, it's unlikely he's going to join the coalition.

>>123022
>implying Trump isnt a fringe party kook
>implying Pence isnt gonna go "Christian Sharia" the moment he takes hold of any kind of legislative power.
>implying that unilateral policy-making in a two-party system doesnt promote mediocrity

you're kind of a mess right now my guy.

Also people keep quoting the Muslim riots like anyone expected places like Germany to be remotely prepared for an influx of un-vetted refugees.

The US doesnt have those problems because we have a capable domestic intelligence apparatus, combined with effective vetting procedures that start with UNAMIR, and end up running the gamut between DCS, DHS, FBI, etc.

Germany has none of that, and bit off more than it can chew numbers-wise.

Well-intentioned, but not very secure.

meanwhile, in the us, 500,000+ refugees later...
not really much unrest to speak of sans a few scattered incidents that were handled quickly and efficiently.

Geert wilders is not fucking right wing. He's a leftist with anti eu and immigration standpoints.

Stop applying American politics to other countries

>>123080
He isn't a leftwinger as that would imply he has any real plans on how to rule the country. IRL troll is a better name for his standing on the political spectrum.

>>123080
>with anti eu and immigration standpoint
to mindless progressives this is enough to be considered a farright extremist nazi.
it doesnt matter why you have these views (unless youre against white immigration, which is perfectly ok) or what your other views are.

>>123080
True it's different from US right, but his party did come out against anti-climate-change regulation.
I'm not really sure why parties that want to control immigration more robustly package so much other junk into their platform. It makes it look like they're just using anti-immigrant sentiment as a vehicle for supporting various special interests.

>>123100
>mindless progressives

Whoops yea because being focused on new and better policies and methods of governance is totally bereft of rational thought.

all y'all using words that dont mean what you think they mean.

>>123135
im talking about the "progressives" that blindly pursue naive ideals,
considers anyone that disagrees evil,
and are generally just useful idiots.

>>123052
> maybe gun control legislation could help to address that.

No, there is no evidence to support the theory of gun control and in fact, the evidence suggests that gun control increases crime by disarming the law abiding.

The anti-gun movement are fundie cultists on par with Muslim jihadists and Born Again Christians, no amount of scientific date will ever convince them that their's is a false god.

You simply cannot make common cause with these kind of nut jobs.

>>122965
The misery that is the American health care system is not because of a trade-off for military funding. America spends more per capita on health than any European country, while having less coverage (and less coverage quality) than most European countries. Better healthcare for Americans would not have to be "bought" by making cuts to defense spending, it would just require throwing ideological bullshit overboard and creating a working system that a vast majority of the legislative can agree to work with. When you have a minority trying to sabotage the system that the other side came up with and/or a majority forcing such a system through the legislative process, of course things won't end well. What's needed something to the effect of a "gentleman's agreement" of sorts to put results ahead of politics on central issues like healthcare.

>>123159
then why can't countries with communist healthcare afford a military? Is it because you have communist college too?

>>123174
They could afford a proportional military to that of the US. The question is, why don't they?
Maybe:
Because their economies are not as large as that of the US? Because they're not willing to spend 16% of their budget on the military? Because they don't want to take on the kind of debt the US has?

Again, the countries with "communist" (a.k.a. working) insurance systems - not all of them are single payer or government-sponsored, by the way - are spending LESS than the US on healthcare per capita. I don't know what exactly you're trying to argue here.

>>123174

It's less that they can't afford it (because objectively they spend less on healthcare than Americans do per person, so your argument doesn't make sense on that level alone) and more that they view they don't need to. America is the world police, securing trade routes and looking out for shared interests outside of continental Europe, and outside of France's commitment to it's former colonies most European countries just let America do all the heavy lifting. Couple that with the end of the cold war and NATO's mutual defense pact being seen as enough of a deterrent to stop any outside aggression, continental defense spending is even less of a priority for said nations.

That being said, it is easy to argue that this isn't fair to the Americans since the Europeans aren't pulling their weight, but this is hardly a result of socialist healthcare systems bankrupting the states so they can't spend anything on military. It's more like lazy guy seeing their roommate pay more than their share of the rent and then spending what they would have spend on rent on other shit instead.

>>122450
He isn't actually right wing, he is populist and basically belongs no where on the left to right spectrum

>>123184
>They could afford a proportional military to that of the US.
Rly?>>123185
>they spend less on healthcare than Americans do per person
This is such bullshit

Its like "illegal immigrants actually pay taxes"

>>123366
This. On everything but immigration he is left of Bernie Sanders.

>>123371
http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.XPD.PCAP
I guess this is "fake data" or something then?

>>123385
This. I read it here alot that people think that Geert is a rightwinger but he is only rightwing when it comes to imigration. His party is left on the other subjects.