Right-Wing Leader Geert Wilders Set to Win Dutch Election: Exit Poll

Exit Poll Shows Right-Wing Leader Geert Wilders Poised to Win Dutch Election

November 23, 2023 TruthUSA

‘The winds of change are here,’ Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban says following the exit poll results.

Right-wing Dutch politician Geert Wilders is expected to secure the most seats in parliamentary elections on Wednesday in a landslide, an exit poll showed, putting him far ahead enough that he is expected to become the Netherlands’ next leader.

His Freedom Party (PVV) won the most seats with 35, followed by the Green-Labour alliance led by former EU Commissioner Frans Timmermans with 25, the NOS’
exit poll showed early Thursday morning.

The 60-year-old politician was seen celebrating the result in a
video posted on his social media account, with a simple caption that read “35.”

The exit poll, while not the final result, is generally reliable, with a margin of error of roughly two seats. Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban also
congratulated Mr. Wilders “on winning the Dutch elections.”

“The winds of change are here,” Mr. Orban stated on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Mr. Wilders, a right-wing populist who is widely known for his anti-Islam views, has pledged to curb “the asylum tsunami” and immigration to the Netherlands if he were to win the parliamentary election.

PVV Can ‘No Longer Be Ignored’

European Commission First Vice-President Frans Timmermans addresses a news conference at the EU Commission headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, December 20, 2017. (Reuters/Francois Lenoir)

Mr. Timmermans has said that he wouldn’t form a coalition with PVV. “We will never form a coalition with parties that pretend that asylum seekers are the source of all misery,” he said.

However, the PVV leader appeared confident that he could form a government this time round.

“No party can ignore us any longer after we got 35 seats,” Mr. Wilders told PVV supporters following the result.

The only time Mr. Wilders came close to governing was when he supported the first coalition formed by Prime Minister Mark Rutte in 2010. But he did not formally join the minority administration and brought it down after just 18 months in office in a dispute over austerity measures. Since then, mainstream parties have shunned him.

His fiery anti-Islam rhetoric also has made him a target for Islamist extremists, and led to him living under police protection for years. He has appeared in court as a victim of death threats, vowing never to be silenced.

In 2021, Mr. Wilders told AFP that he has no regret fighting for freedom. “Of course I take a stand. I am under attack, my country is under attack,” he was quoted as saying.

To court mainstream voters this time around, Mr. Wilders toned down his anti-immigration rhetoric, instead saying his platform would tackle issues like housing shortages, the cost-of-living crisis, and access to good health care.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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