Dutch General Election 2023
By Kriti Swarup | News | November 24, 2023
Cover Illustration: Waiting for Pieter Omtzigt to address the exit polls at the Metropool, Enschede on the evening of 22 November. Kriti Swarup / The Amsterdammer
News Reporter Kriti Swarup summarizes the rightward swing in the Dutch General Election of Nov. 22, 2023.
Upon googling the Dutch Election, the following keywords pop up: far-right, anti-Islamist, shock win, populist… What is happening? A balanced coalition government is the norm in Holland. Yet, many voters are favoring larger parties such as the VVD and PVV for swifter action and more control within government. In the past, Mark Rutte was criticized for turning a blind eye to local affairs. According to the European Parliament, Rutte’s cabinet “reacted slowly to the worrying signs and calls from various sectors of society,” as exemplified by the childcare benefit scandal which led to the resignation of the Dutch government in 2021. The Dutch Tax and Customs Administration admittedly used racist algorithms such as “foreign-sounding names” and “dual nationality” to detect fraud in the case of legally granted benefits for welfare. As a consequence, thousands of families sank into poverty as they were asked to return tens of thousands of euros.
Pieter Omtzigt of the Niuew Sociaal Contract (NSC) played a key role in exposing the childcare benefits scandal and ran in the 2023 election. The center-right party ranked at 15 percent in the preliminary polls. Willem Jaap Zwart, a local voter from Enschede — Omtzigt’s hometown — believes that the electoral candidate “can shake up the politics in Holland.” Often described by journalists as “principled” and “very German-looking,” Omtzigt plans to limit net immigration from 220,000 to 50,000 in an effort to ease the housing crisis. Weighty taxes for the rich are on the agenda, as he lobbies for fewer short-term contracts to repel expats: a Holland for the Dutch working class. Omzigt has, however, expressed a desire to continue working in the lower house of the Dutch parliament even if elected. This indecision shifts eyes to the People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy, VVD.
Dilan Yeşilgöz is the Justice and Security Minister of Rutte’s caretaker government. As the new face of the VVD — who polled in the preliminaries at 18 percent, Yeşilgöz arrived into the right-wing party as a former Kurdish-Turkish refugee. In a conversation with Politico, she elaborates on the topic of migration: “There’s an influx of too many people, not only asylum seekers but also migrant workers and international students, which means that we don’t have the capacity to help real refugees.” The VVD’s stance manifests in a cancellation of permanent residence permits, and the establishment of a two-tier asylum system — denying entry to immigrants arriving via illegal routes. Amidst these odds, Britt Tanck, a young voter in Enschede voices her expectations: “I think the Netherlands will move to the right but I hope there will be some balance.”
Enter Geert Wilders’ Party for Freedom, PVV. The far-right party charmed 16 percent of all Dutch voters according to Politico’s preliminary polls. That is almost two million people intrigued by ideas of nationalism and authoritarianism. Wilders’ agenda includes a ban on mosques, the Quran and hijabs in government buildings, as well as excluding Moroccans from Holland by scrutinizing dual-nationals. The PVV also advocates for a tentative Nexit – the Netherlands’ exit from the European Union. While the fears around a new, conservative country are relevant, a coalition government usually ensures that a singular party may never enjoy complete autonomy. That being said, for many people, the rise in popularity of the PVV’s anti-Islamic and anti-EU rhetoric is slightly concerning. As a voter in conversation with Folia Magazine says, “… But it [Holland] may already be a very right-wing country”.
After a long season of campaigning, waiting, and wishing, the ballots were counted on the evening of Nov. 22 2023. The PVV ranks at the top with 35 seats, followed by PvdA-GL with 26, VVD with 23, and the NSC with 20 seats. The rest are scattered across many minority parties.
Wilders’ lead caught a lot of students by surprise. How could such harsh stances be so popular in a country that prides itself on neutrality and openness? A long history of merchants integrated democracy into the Dutch lifestyle; liberals are more tolerant, and tolerance brings business. The pillarization of Dutch radio in the late 19th century speaks volumes on the culture of democracy: everyone had a voice. A Dutch-Canadian voter pursuing European Studies at the UvA finds faith in history: “Right-wing views are sweeping across Europe, but those ideals have always been stronger in countries with a rightist past… Italy with Mussolini or France with Sarkozy, for example. We should still be scared of right-wing populism, but have more faith in the foundations this country [Holland] has been built on.”
The new government may spell trouble for migrants, but a long history of democracy offers a sense of protection to those threatened by the right wing. On a more somber note, a Belgian journalist covering the polls in Enschede explains that the system always favors the rich: “it [the system] is not made for us…” he says. Perhaps Wilders brings transparency to an us-versus-them rhetoric: locals versus immigrants; rich versus poor; right versus left — a logic of binaries that exists across governments. Moreover, the national focus upon which the campaign is built may never materialize in a country that relies so heavily on exports: think Heineken, Gouda Cheese and machinery. Trading is deeply entrenched in Holland’s historical reliance on all things international.
Given their infancy as a three-month-old party, members of the New Social Contract are proud of their position in the exit polls. At the Metropool in Enschede, family and friends of the NSC celebrate all 20 seats. When asked about the PVV’s lead on the exit polls, Candidate Bram Kouwenhoven refers to other leading parties’ reluctance to join a coalition with Wilders: “So I wish him all the best to build a cabinet, but it will be a difficult formation.” In the same breath, the NSC candidate expresses difficulty in determining the future of the Dutch coalition.
Only time will tell. Candidates, voters, and students continue to negotiate with the rise of the Dutch right. Some find faith in Holland’s democratic past, while others anxiously await the ruling coalition — in hope and concern for the future of the country.
Kriti Swarup is a university student in Amsterdam. The views expressed here are not necessarily those of The Amsterdammer.
