Timmermans reacts to victory of far-right, anti-Islam populist Wilders in Dutch election

(22 Nov 2023)

RESTRICTIONS SUMMARY:

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Amsterdam - 22 November 2023
1. SOUNDBITE (Dutch) Frans Timmermans, leader of GroenLinks/PvdA:
"We will never form a coalition with parties that pretend that asylum seekers are the source of all misery. No. And we still have a big task. When I look at these elections and also some reactions I see then I don't think a lot of people have really realised what really happened tonight. This will become increasingly clear in the coming days and weeks. And in the coming days and weeks we will increasingly see how difficult, how important, how essential our task is to stand up for the Netherlands where we exclude no one, to stand up for the Netherlands where we embrace everyone, to stand up for the Netherlands where we do not look at what your background is, what your religion is, what your skin colour is. We represent the Netherlands and we will ensure that more and more Dutch people come to our side."
++ENDS ON A SOUNDBITE++
STORYLINE:

The leader of the Dutch centre-left Labor Party and Green Left, Frans Timmermans, reacted with dismay and disappointment to the victory of the far-right, anti-Islam populist Geert Wilders in the Dutch election on Wednesday.

"We will never form a coalition with parties that pretend that asylum seekers are the source of all misery. No. And we still have a big task," Timmermans told his supporters in Amsterdam.

"I don't think a lot of people have really realised what really happened tonight," he added. "In the coming days and weeks we will increasingly see how difficult, how important, how essential our task is to stand up for the Netherlands where we exclude no one, to stand up for the Netherlands where we embrace everyone, to stand up for the Netherlands where we do not look at what your background is, what your religion is, what your skin colour is."

Wilders was headed for a landslide parliamentary election victory in one of the biggest political upsets in Dutch politics since World War II, and one that is bound to send shockwaves through Europe.

The result puts him in line to lead talks to form a new ruling coalition and possibly become the country’s prime minister at a time of political upheaval through much of Europe.

The exit poll published by the national broadcaster NOS said that Wilders’ Party for Freedom won 35 seats in the 150-seat lower house of parliament, more than double the 17 he won at the last election.

Wilders called on other parties to constructively engage in coalition talks.

The closest party to Wilders' Party for Freedom was the alliance of the centre-left Labor Party and Green Left, led by Timmermans, which was forecast to win 26 seats.

Wilders' election programme includes calls for a referendum on the Netherlands leaving the European Union, a total halt to accepting asylum-seekers and migrant pushbacks at the Dutch borders.

It also advocates the “de-Islamization” of the Netherlands, although he has been milder about Islam during this election campaign than in the past.

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