Islamophobe Geert Wilders, the new Dutch PM? (Opinion)

Islamophobe Geert Wilders, the new Dutch PM? (Opinion)November 27, 2023New Delhi, Nov 27 (IANS) Last week, veteran Dutch anti-Islam politician Geert Wilders vowed to be Prime Minister of the Netherlands eventually, following an election in which his party won the most seats.Wilders vowed on X: “I will be prime minister.”In a long post on X, he expressed frustration at other parties for their apparent unwillingness to cooperate with his Freedom Party (PVV), Wilders said he would “continue to moderate”; his positions if necessary to gain power.Although Wilders’ party finished well ahead of rivals in the November 22 vote on an anti-immigration platform, his party won only 37 seats in the Dutch parliament. That means he will have to cooperate with at least two more moderate parties in order to form a government.Earlier, the conservative VVD Party, of caretaker Prime Minister Mark Rutte, which shares many of Wilders’s views on immigration, said it would not participate in a cabinet with him.However the VVD’s new leader, Dilan Yesilgoz, did not rule out offering outside support to a Wilders-led government.Pieter Omtzigt, who leads the centrist reform NSC Party and is also seen as a likely partner in a Wilders’ government, has said cooperation will be difficult due to extreme positions Wilders has voiced that appear to violate Dutch constitutional protections on freedom of religion.Wilders’ stand on Islam Geert Wilders is known for his radical anti-immigration and Islamophobic