"Enlightenment is man's emergence from his self-imposed nonage. Nonage is the inability to use one's own understanding without another's guidance. This nonage is self-imposed if its cause lies not in lack of understanding but in indecision and lack of courage to use one's own mind without another's guidance. Dare to know! (Sapere aude.) "Have the courage to use your own understanding," is therefore the motto of the enlightenment."
Dutch Voters Choose Proven Leadership Over Populism: The highly anticipated first election of Europe’s busy election year has come to an end. As with Brexit and the election of Donald Trump, the polls had it wrong–which, given that almost a fifth of the Dutch decide on their vote in the voting booth, isn’t surprising. The “Tweede Kamerverkiezingen” (Dutch for parliamentary elections) turned into a successful evening for the nation’s established parties. 81 percent of eligible voters turned out, the highest number in three decades.
The Winner: The right-liberal People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) of Prime Minister Mark Rutte, buoyed by his recent handling of the diplomatic row between the Netherlands and Turkey, secured 33 seats (with 94 percent of votes counted) in the 150-seat parliament. The VVD however won eight fewer seats than in the 2012 vote, when it claimed 41. Still, the VVD is by far the largest party in the country, all but assuring Rutte’s return as Prime Minister.
The Loser: The biggest loser of the night–by a margin larger than the Greek government’s debt–was the Dutch Labour party (PvdA) of Lodewijk Asscher, which was virtually annihilated and lost some 29 seats, compared to the 2012 election.
The Hair Spray Model: All eyes were on the the man blowing up European politics, populist firebrand Geert Wilders, whose anti-immigrant and anti-EU Freedom Party (PVV) secured 20 seats. Even with a second place finish, Wilders has no path to power, as he is about as popular among fellow party leaders (especially Rutte) as cholera, Ebola and AIDS combined.
The Others: The new Dutch parliament doesn’t mirror the trend of soaring hard-right populism seen in the United States and other parts of Europe. In a third-place tie behind the VVD and PVV are the center-right Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) and the left-liberal D66 party, both with 19 seats. The Green-Left (GL) party, led by 30-year-old Jesse Klaver, made significant gains and captured 14 seats.
What Now for the Netherlands?: With thirteen parties projected to move into Parliament, creating a viable coalition will be anything but easy. European parliamentary elections are often followed by weeks, if not months, of negotiations between parties in order to form a coalition. Many see the strong possibility of the formation of a center-right coalition between four parties: the VVD, CDA, D66, and CU (Christian Union).
What Does This Mean for the Rest of Europe?: The election represents a victory for moderates, while putting a momentary damper on populist plans to sweep Europe’s heartland through elections in the Netherlands, France, and Germany. The Dutch results heavily benefit French presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron, who represents similar policies as Mark Rutte and could also be compared to Green-Left popstar Jesse Klaver, who has drawn comparisons to Justin Trudeau and Barack Obama.
The Dutch vote could indicate burgeoning disenchantment of the political far-right on both sides of the Atlantic. In his victory speech Wednesday night, Rutte told his cheering supporters: “This night is a night for the Netherlands–after Brexit, after the American elections–where we said stop it, stop it to the wrong kind of populism.” But his statement, ironically, is a populist battle cry in and of itself. But would we expect anything less than the bold and dramatic in our politics nowadays?
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