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Geert Wilders’ far-right party is set to form a coalition government for the first time in the Netherlands, the latest EU country to lurch rightward.
The anti-Islam politician agreed to stay out of the cabinet after three other parties said they would only form a government with his Freedom party (PVV) if Wilders dropped his bid to become prime minister following his electoral win last year. A formal announcement, including the name of the new premier, is expected before midnight on Wednesday.
“I can’t see this fail,” said Wilders on Wednesday after another round of coalition talks.
Far-right parties have surged in some EU countries in recent years, with Italy’s League, the Finns party in Finland and the Sweden Democrats joining governments and the Alternative for Germany scoring electoral victories at a regional level.
In France, Marine Le Pen’s Rassemblement National is polling first ahead of European parliament elections next month, far ahead of the liberal party of President Emmanuel Macron.
But in other countries, most notably in Poland, Spain and Greece, centrist parties have come back or held on to power.
In the Dutch elections in November, Wilders’ party scored a historic win, coming first with 23 per cent of the vote. It is set to form a coalition with the conservative liberal VVD — the party of outgoing Prime Minister Mark Rutte — the centre-right New Social Contract (NSC), and populist Farmer-Citizen Movement.
The new government’s programme is likely to include curbs on immigration and higher taxes on the wealthy and on business to fund welfare for the elderly. Wilders said he wanted to “put the Dutch on top” during his fiery election campaign.
In a bid to placate his future coalition partners, Wilders has dropped some of his most radical policies, including a ban on the Koran and mosques. But he is fiercely pro-Israel and his X feed questions whether pro-Palestinian protests in his country are appropriate for a European nation.
Wilders lives in a safe house and has a police squad protecting him at all times because of death threats. In 2010 he backed Rutte’s minority government in parliament, but pulled out of the deal two years later, triggering snap elections.
The parties were still discussing on Wednesday who could become prime minister. Local media report that Wilders has asked Ronald Plasterk, a former minister from the Dutch Labour party, but he has refused to comment. But the VVD and NSC could find it hard to accept a centre-left politician as premier.
NSC leader Pieter Omtzigt said on Wednesday an agreement was “close”. “The country needs a new government,” he added.
The two men chairing the talks, Elbert Dijkgraaf and Richard van Zwol, said they would not extend the Wednesday deadline to form a government.
Dilan Yeşilgöz, the VVD leader and outgoing justice minister, will leave the government with all party leaders staying as MPs. They will appoint party members and technocrats.
By convention, the VVD, as the next biggest party, would get the finance ministry and NSC, as third, the foreign ministry. They have already forced Wilders to cut back his spending plans, which included introducing free public transport and abolishing an annual health charge.
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