Far-right party emerges as power broker behind new Netherlands government

[Hannah Bell]

Two months after the Dutch parliamentary elections, a minority government appears to be forming based on the support of the Party for Freedom (PVV), led by the far-right anti-immigrant politician Gert Wilders. In The Hague, negotiations have begun on a coalition agreement and the terms by which the PVV will support the government. The agreement is expected to be completed in three weeks.

Wilders’ PVV will not be represented in the new government. However, as the two governing parties—the right-wing People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) and the Christian Democratic CDA—together with the PVV will have a combined majority of only one vote in the 150-seat parliament, the fate of the government will largely rest with the extreme-right PVV.

Wilders will be able to use the threat of withdrawing support to effectively veto government policies and impose his own political line. “Although Wilders is not a minister, he will be the country’s de facto prime minister in this coalition government,” Sharon Dijksma, a Social Democratic member of parliament, told the Frankfurter Rundschau...

The election result reflected the deep political unease within the Dutch population. Increasingly, people have turned away from the Social Democrats as a result of their support for austerity measures. This dissatisfaction, however, lacks a progressive political expression in the absence of a party defending the interests of working people.

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2010/aug2010/neth-a12.shtml

[leftstreet]

1. '..in the absence of a party defending the interests of working people'

And there you have it. That's how the 'far right' (ie the less friendly parties representing capitalism) will get back on top the pile - globally.

Gosh, you'd think it was planned

:hide:

K&R Interesting article

[Hannah Bell]

2. that's for sure. all the fascists are in agreement on the need to claw back social protections:

Signalling that talks on forming a coalition government had already begun, Mr Wilders on Thursday dropped his opposition to Liberal plans to raise the Dutch retirement age to 67 from 65.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/netherlands/7818281/Geert-Wilders-to-enter-Dutch-government-after-support-for-anti-Islamic-party-triples.html