“Which not.”Which it does not; a denial of the truth or persuasiveness of an assertion. E.g., “[E]ven if the trick to change a contract for regular coastal service into a concession for exclusive navigation succeeded (… …
”Timmermans congratulated Wilders on his win Wednesday night but took aim at his party, vowing to “never enter into a coalition with a party that excludes Dutchmen.” He added: “Let’s make a fist against exclusion.”POLITICO EUTIMMERMANS EYES OPPOSITION ROLEAFTER FAR-RIGHT WIN IN DUTCH ELECTION23 NOVEMBER 2023
Former EU climate chief Frans Timmermans is ready to play his role in the Dutch opposition after the shock win of far-right politician Geert Wilders in the Dutch election on Wednesday.
“I suspect that we will end up in the opposition,” Timmermans reportedly said on Thursday at a gathering of members of the joint Labor-Green alliance which he led into Wednesday’s election.
The two parties performed well in the vote, raising their joint seat count from 17 to 25, according to projections by Dutch broadcaster NOS based on more than 99 percent of the votes counted. But the big leap forward was eclipsed by the win of the far-right Freedom Party (PVV), led by Geert Wilders, which came in first place with 37 seats.
It’s now Wilders’ turn to try to form a coalition, Timmermans hinted.
Wilders said on election night that he might try to build a coalition with center-right parties, such as the liberal People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), the centrist New Social Contract (NSC), and the right-wing populist Farmer-Citizen Movement (BBB).
“It is clear that a lot of people expect solutions from the right. Then it’s up to the right to show that they can offer these,” Timmermans said.
Timmermans congratulated Wilders on his win Wednesday night but took aim at his party, vowing to “never enter into a coalition with a party that excludes Dutchmen.” He added: “Let’s make a fist against exclusion.”
Timmermans served as an executive vice president under European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, in charge of the EU’s Green Deal. He resigned in August to lead the joint list of the Dutch Social Democratic Party (PVDA) and the Dutch Green Left.
”The PVV’s likely victory in Wednesday’s election is partly due to choices made by the VVD, said D66 leader Rob Jetten at his party’s election night celebration in Amsterdam. The VVD pushed voters down this path with “campaign choices on the backs of refugees.” Several other parties agreed, saying VVD leader Dilan Yeşilgöz and her party normalized many far-right opinions.”
The PVV’s likely victory in Wednesday’s election is partly due to choices made by the VVD, said D66 leader Rob Jetten at his party’s election night celebration in Amsterdam. The VVD pushed voters down this path with “campaign choices on the backs of refugees.” Several other parties agreed, saying VVD leader Dilan Yeşilgöz and her party normalized many far-right opinions.
According to Jetten, Yeşilgöz’s party opted for elections over the summer “instead of getting a grip on migration.” He referred to the fourth Cabinet of Prime Minister Mark Rutte, which collapsed after Rutte took a sudden defiant stance on asylum issues as negotiations between the coalition parties were progressing towards an agreement.
Jetten further warned against the extreme ideas of PVV leader Geert Wilders behind his “so-called moderate tone.” He said, “The politics of intolerance has been normalized while it should never be normal,” at which point the gathered audience cheered and applauded. “Yeşilgöz left the door wide open for Wilders.”
Jetten promised “to continue working against hatred and intolerance in the coming years. Because if one party does that when others remain silent, it is Democrats 66.”
Yeşilgöz denied that her party’s campaign strategy made the PVV the largest party in the Tweede Kamer. The outgoing justice and security minister told NOS and RTL Nieuws that she would not rule out working with the PVV after Wilders took a less radical position in debates, and promised to put to shelve his views on Islam.
“It was not the VVD that made the PVV great. The voters did that,” Yeşilgöz said. “That is what’s going on. If you don’t address it and solve it, you get this.”
Yeşilgöz previously said that she does not want her party to join a Cabinet in which Wilders is prime minister. She also pointed out what she considers to be practical obstacles. “I don’t see a majority, I don’t see it happening.”
Denk party leader Stephan van Baarle would not congratulate PVV leader Geert Wilders on the victory he achieved. Van Baarle also said that Yeşilgöz and others have normalized the “extreme right” in the Netherlands.
Wilders’ profit is a threat to human rights and the rule of law, according to Van Baarle. According to the 32-year-old party leader, this “leads to fear among many people.” Denk must stand up for those people, said Van Baarle. “We will not be intimidated. We will form a shield against far-right rhetoric, and fight for minorities in this country from day one. Denk is needed more than ever in the fight against racism and discrimination. Combating exclusion and hatred of Muslims is part of our DNA.”
Since Hamas launched a bloody surprise attack on Israel on October 7, Denk has mainly been in the news with a fiercely pro-Palestinian position. Van Baarle concluded his election night speech in an Amsterdam-Osdorp with the controversial slogan, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” seen by many Israelis and Jewish people as a call to expel them from Israel as part of a one-state solution to decades of conflict.
Denk party prominent Farid Azarkan said on X that the PVV victory was “a rotten move. Making the PVV the largest! Never thought this would happen in the Netherlands.” He previously announced that he would not return to Parliament, but said on X the PVV victory might push him back into politics.
Wilders himself has already said that he wants a “center-right” Cabinet, in which the VVD can also take part. Wilders obtains 35 seats according to the exit poll, and can achieve a majority together with the VVD (24 seats) and Pieter Omtzigt’s NSC. Omtzigt also previously said that he did not want to cooperate with the PVV, because of the anti-democratic proposals in the PVV program regarding religious freedoms. Omtzigt seemed to soften that stance on Wednesday.
Current coalition party D66 was projected to get 10 seats. During the previous elections, D66 won 24 seats. Jetten called the result a tough pill to swallow. “Double -digits are fantastic, but we had hoped for more,” said the D66 leader.
Denk is expected to retain its current three seats in the Tweede Kamer. Van Baarle said he was proud of that. “I am very happy that we are a beacon of stability.” He added he was hopeful that total could rise as the votes are counted.
”PVV leader Geert Wilders responded to his political colleagues’ call for him to denounce xenophobic violence in the asylum debate exactly as D66 leader Alexander Pechtold expected him to. He has no intention of doing so. From his holiday destination, Wilders posted on Twitter: “Politicians and the press can go to hell. Distance yourselves from your cowardice and betrayal of the Netherlands to Islam. Morons.”
PVV leader Geert Wilders responded to his political colleagues’ call for him to denounce xenophobic violence in the asylum debate exactly as D66 leader Alexander Pechtold expected him to. He has no intention of doing so. From his holiday destination, Wilders posted on Twitter: “Politicians and the press can go to hell. Distance yourselves from your cowardice and betrayal of the Netherlands to Islam. Morons.” A number of Wilders’ political colleagues, including PvdA Deputy Prime Minister Lodewijk Asscher and ChristenUnie leader Gert-Jan Segers, insisted that the PVV leader distance himself from incidents like the riots in Geldermalsen disrupting the debate on a possible asylum center in the municipality on Wednesday. Before the debate Wilders called for rebellion against the asylum center on Twitter On Thursday a Somali family in Pannerden was attacked. Their home was pelted with fireworks and a racist pamphlet, showing a picture of Wilders and the text “Immigrants must go! This is just the beginning!”, was stuck to their front door. Over the weekend a mosque in Dordrecht was occupied by the group Identitair Verzet, who hung a banner bearing slogans like “Less, less” , referring to Wilders’ statements about Moroccans that currently have him facing a hate speech trial. D66 leader Pechtold told NRC on Monday that he also believes that Wilders should speak out against this violence, but expects that he will not do it. “His answer will be: I don’t have to do anything.”
”Denk party leader Stephan van Baarle would not congratulate PVV leader Geert Wilders on the victory he achieved. Van Baarle also said that Yeşilgöz and others have normalized the “extreme right” in the Netherlands.”
The PVV’s likely victory in Wednesday’s election is partly due to choices made by the VVD, said D66 leader Rob Jetten at his party’s election night celebration in Amsterdam. The VVD pushed voters down this path with “campaign choices on the backs of refugees.” Several other parties agreed, saying VVD leader Dilan Yeşilgöz and her party normalized many far-right opinions.
According to Jetten, Yeşilgöz’s party opted for elections over the summer “instead of getting a grip on migration.” He referred to the fourth Cabinet of Prime Minister Mark Rutte, which collapsed after Rutte took a sudden defiant stance on asylum issues as negotiations between the coalition parties were progressing towards an agreement.
Jetten further warned against the extreme ideas of PVV leader Geert Wilders behind his “so-called moderate tone.” He said, “The politics of intolerance has been normalized while it should never be normal,” at which point the gathered audience cheered and applauded. “Yeşilgöz left the door wide open for Wilders.”
Jetten promised “to continue working against hatred and intolerance in the coming years. Because if one party does that when others remain silent, it is Democrats 66.”
Yeşilgöz denied that her party’s campaign strategy made the PVV the largest party in the Tweede Kamer. The outgoing justice and security minister told NOS and RTL Nieuws that she would not rule out working with the PVV after Wilders took a less radical position in debates, and promised to put to shelve his views on Islam.
“It was not the VVD that made the PVV great. The voters did that,” Yeşilgöz said. “That is what’s going on. If you don’t address it and solve it, you get this.”
Yeşilgöz previously said that she does not want her party to join a Cabinet in which Wilders is prime minister. She also pointed out what she considers to be practical obstacles. “I don’t see a majority, I don’t see it happening.”
Denk party leader Stephan van Baarle would not congratulate PVV leader Geert Wilders on the victory he achieved. Van Baarle also said that Yeşilgöz and others have normalized the “extreme right” in the Netherlands.
Wilders’ profit is a threat to human rights and the rule of law, according to Van Baarle. According to the 32-year-old party leader, this “leads to fear among many people.” Denk must stand up for those people, said Van Baarle. “We will not be intimidated. We will form a shield against far-right rhetoric, and fight for minorities in this country from day one. Denk is needed more than ever in the fight against racism and discrimination. Combating exclusion and hatred of Muslims is part of our DNA.”
Since Hamas launched a bloody surprise attack on Israel on October 7, Denk has mainly been in the news with a fiercely pro-Palestinian position. Van Baarle concluded his election night speech in an Amsterdam-Osdorp with the controversial slogan, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” seen by many Israelis and Jewish people as a call to expel them from Israel as part of a one-state solution to decades of conflict.
Denk party prominent Farid Azarkan said on X that the PVV victory was “a rotten move. Making the PVV the largest! Never thought this would happen in the Netherlands.” He previously announced that he would not return to Parliament, but said on X the PVV victory might push him back into politics.
Wilders himself has already said that he wants a “center-right” Cabinet, in which the VVD can also take part. Wilders obtains 35 seats according to the exit poll, and can achieve a majority together with the VVD (24 seats) and Pieter Omtzigt’s NSC. Omtzigt also previously said that he did not want to cooperate with the PVV, because of the anti-democratic proposals in the PVV program regarding religious freedoms. Omtzigt seemed to soften that stance on Wednesday.
Current coalition party D66 was projected to get 10 seats. During the previous elections, D66 won 24 seats. Jetten called the result a tough pill to swallow. “Double -digits are fantastic, but we had hoped for more,” said the D66 leader.
Denk is expected to retain its current three seats in the Tweede Kamer. Van Baarle said he was proud of that. “I am very happy that we are a beacon of stability.” He added he was hopeful that total could rise as the votes are counted.
Geert Wilders woensdagavond op de partijbijeenkomst van de PVV in Scheveningen.