The Power of Populism by Vossen Koen

Author:Vossen, Koen [Koen Vossen]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781317292883
Publisher: Taylor & Francis (CAM)

The decision to drop the coalition can be viewed as an important hiatus in the history of the PVV. In the September 2012 elections for the House of Representatives the PVV suffered a sensitive loss for the first time. The party lost a third of its voters, dropping back to 10% of the vote, or 15 seats. Wilders had not succeeded in making the EU the central theme of the elections. In August and September 2012, the election campaign quickly came down to a neck-and-neck race between Rutte’s VVD and the PvdA. In this kind of situation many voters are swayed by strategic considerations towards one of the two parties out of fear that the other will become the largest. Analyses showed that many potential PVV voters chose Rutte at the last minute because of this.

Wilders, however, lost something even more important in 2012. After suddenly abandoning negotiations he was no longer seen as a trustworthy partner who stuck to agreements and behaved sensibly. In a coalition country such as the Netherlands that is fatal. Not a single party, not even the VVD, was keen to work with Wilders. Since 2012, responsibility for government or even a role as parliamentary supporter has therefore been less likely than ever.

The fall of the first Rutte cabinet also abruptly ended a process of the PVV settling down and taking roots in the system. As parliamentary supporter between 2010 and 2012, despite the incidents, the PVV party had become a relatively ordinary party which no longer only focused its energy on head-on opposition but also played a part in legislation by submitting amendments and private members’ bills. In 2011, the PVV submitted twice as many amendments as in previous years. Moreover, half of these were accepted, something which only happened for 10% of cases before 2011. In 2011, the PVV submitted six private members’ bills, twice as many as in the previous four years. Despite the substantial increase in number of MPs, the number of motions and questions submitted barely rose in relative terms (11% and 15.6% of the total respectively, in 2011).28

After the fall of the cabinet, the PVV returned to its previous mode of opposition. True to tradition, Wilders sought the boundaries of parliamentary mores, for instance by threatening to sue the government and by filibustering. The number of motions and questions in parliament again increased significantly at the expense of more labour-intensive legislation. Thus after 2012, the PVV seemed in many respects to be back to square one. The big difference, however, was a change in perspective. Before 2010, Wilders could still work towards the moment when he was admitted to the centre of power, but after 2012 that perspective seemed to have vanished completely. The PVV’s isolation was greater than ever after his call for ‘fewer Moroccans’ in a speech in March 2014. A storm of indignation flared up in the Netherlands with more than 5000 people reporting Wilders for discrimination. Most parties announced that they would avoid any form of cooperation with the PVV from then on.

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