Six months after the election a coalition deal of sorts was announced in The Netherlands by the PVV (Party for Freedom) leader Geert Wilders. The BBB (Burgher-Boer Movement), the NSC (New Social Contract), and the VVD (Volksparty for Freedom and Democracy). Two of these parties have been around for a while and the other two are very new.
Wilder's PVV is essentially a nationalist-populist party that fills a similar space as NZ First. The BBB is very much a rural protest movement against eco-communism that does not have a direct parallel in New Zealand—perhaps imagine things getting so dire that a Groundswell/VFF party wins a few dozen seats.
NSC on the other hand is more a moderate reaction to the dysfunctional political system with its endless scandals and a re-alignment of the Christian Democrat voters in a post-Christian society. VVD is the previous ruling party—the National Party if it consisted only of its sopping wet liberal wing.
Wilder's headline policy win is one of deportation. All asylum claims will immediately be halted and all illegal immigrants will be rounded up and deported, by force if necessary. Whether it really happens remains to be seen and I am somewhat sceptical that the bureaucracy will fully carry it out.
Restrictions will be put on the call to prayer being played from mosques. You could call that a "compromise stance" from Wilder's previous call to bulldoze all mosques.
The farmer protests have many of their demands met, but not all. Some will doubtless be disappointed. Their wins include lower taxes, reduction in bureaucracy, cuts to the civil service, lower energy costs, and the repeal of plans to forcibly cull herd numbers and forced expropriation of farms passed by the previous government. The "green agenda" will experience its first major setback.
It all sounds a little too much and too good to be true, but if anything the Dutch are known for their bureaucratic efficiency.
Work on four new nuclear reactors will begin, defence spending will be bolstered to above 2% of GDP in line with NATO commitments, support for Ukraine will be increased, other international aid will be drastically reduced, and the embassy in Israel will be moved to Jerusalem.
The catch, and it's a big catch, is that Geert Wilders will not be Premier. He won't even be in the cabinet, and neither will the leaders of the other coalition partners. All four will remain in the House, and hands on with the legislative process. The coalition does not have a majority in the senate, although that will probably happen after the next election. On many policies it can probably expect support from other smaller right-wing and Christian fundamentalist factions there. Every bill that goes to the floor could set in motion a cascade of failures that brings down the government.
You will see an "extra-parliamentary democracy" of sorts where the entire executive, including the Premier, could be made up of unelected members of the public. It will be a government unlike one that The Netherlands and perhaps any European country has seen before—if it lasts.
I will watch this with interest, but keep in mind that six months have passed since the election. At around the time that Wilders won, Milei also had a victory in Argentina. Things there have progressed at a rapid pace, with Milei's policies immediately being implemented and shaping Argentina. In The Netherlands there is still an undetermined amount of time before a prime minister is announced.
The policies that Wilders wants are mostly very popular with the Dutch people, but inexplicably like everywhere else in the western democratic world, what the people want and what they're allowed to have are entirely different things.