Geert Wilders is readily accustomed to racist excesses and he is threatened with death for his radical and Islamophobic positions.
The far-right party, the “Freedom Party” (PVV), led by Geert Wilders, won the largest number of seats during the Dutch legislative elections, which were held this Wednesday, November 22.
But who is the man who aspires to become the next Prime Minister of the Netherlands?
Geert Wilders, aged 60, will soon become the longest-serving member of the Dutch parliament, celebrating his quarter century in the role this year.
Geert Wilders was first an MP for the centre-right People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy, where he mentored a young future Prime Minister, Mark Rutte, before leaving the party and creating his own party, the “Freedom Party”.
The career of the peroxide-blonde politician, sometimes nicknamed the “Dutch Donald Trump”, has been marked by controversies, violent threats, accusations of inciting hatred and lawsuits.
His fiery anti-Islamist rhetoric also made him a target for extremists and forced him to live under 24-hour protection for years. In court, despite receiving death threats, he vowed never to be silenced. He was convicted of insulting Moroccans during an election night in 2014.
In 2009, the British government refused to allow him to visit the country, saying he posed a threat to “community harmony and therefore public safety”.
To appeal to traditional voters this time, Geert Wilders has sought to focus less on what he calls the “de-Islamization” of the Netherlands and more on burning issues, such as the housing shortage, the cost crisis of life and health care.
His campaign program also includes a referendum on the Netherlands’ exit from the European Union, an “asylum freeze”, a generally more restrictive immigration policy, as well as a ban on Islamic schools and Korans. and mosques. He once compared the Quran to Mein Kampf.
He is also a strong supporter of Israel and advocates moving the Dutch embassy to Jerusalem and closing the Dutch diplomatic post in Ramallah, the headquarters of the Palestinian Authority.
