On 22nd November (local time), the exit polls in the Netherlands showed that Geert Wilders’ conservative Party for Freedom or Partij Voor De Vrijheid (PVV) is set to become the largest party in the Dutch parliament. The results are surprising for the region as Wilders’ party is known for anti-Islamist views.
The party of outgoing Prime Minister Mark Rutte, whose coalition government collapsed in July and resulted in the snap election, was in third place at 23 seats, according to the exit polls. When all votes are counted, it would officially mark the end of Rutte’s 13-year rule.
The party is expected to secure 35 seats, which will be more than double its 2021 tally. Wilders is known for his anti-Islam stances and he has openly vowed to stop immigration to the Netherlands many a times.
The victory of Geert Wilders has the potential to have ripple effects not just in Europe but across the world.
In a recent such case, another Right-wing populist Javier Milei resoundingly won Argentina’s presidency. Javier Milei, a far-right libertarian outsider in Argentina’s politics, is set to be the country’s next president. In the presidential election held on November 19, ‘the lion’ – as Milei prefers to call himself – secured 56 percent of the votes.
If we talk about the Europe, a right-populist wave washed over the European Union from 2015 to 2020.
Poland elected a hard-right government, then the following year saw the United Kingdom leave the bloc in 2016. This was followed by the election of populist-right governments in Austria and Italy, and Hungary reelecting Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz party in 2018. Capping it all off, Poland then reelected their same government in 2019.
Meanwhile, the Right-wing AfD is uprising in Germany very fast rattling Leftists. Finland just formed its most right-wing government in its history with Petteri Orpo in command. Whereas, the Rightist PM Giorgia Meloni is giving headache to Leftists & China. Her strategy since has been focused on normalization – economic orthodoxy, support for Ukraine, good relations with Brussels – while quietly prosecuting her culture war at home.
Far Right leader LePen’s party is surging in France, whereas the current French President Macron is also not paying heed to Leftists’ pressure. Hundreds of thousands in Spain are on roads to fight illegal Muslim infiltrators rampage supported by Liberals.
If we talk about the Spain, we may see a Right Wing Govt in coming Elections. Kyriakos Mitsotakis, PM of Greece has formed a Centre-right Govt after the landslide victory. Viktor Orbán, a hardcore Nationalist & Right Winger, wins Hungary again. Donald Trump is beating Biden in all recent polls, and if everything goes as per the plan, then he is all set to dethrone President Jo Biden.
If we talk about India, then PM Modi is all set to make a come back in 2024.
Why Right Wing is getting more traction among the masses?
Right Wing is definitely creating ripples across the world. The primary reason behind the surge is its two-way process of normalisation: as the centre right increasingly adopts far-right talking points and opens itself up for deals, smart far-right parties moderate some of their more voter-repellent views.
For long, opposition to immigration, Islam and the EU were what united Europe’s far-right parties. New causes have now also emerged: the culture wars, minority rights, the climate crisis and the unfair sacrifices that governments insist will be needed to combat it.
Their appeal has been further enhanced by the cost of living crisis flowing from pandemic recovery and Russia’s war on Ukraine; by rapid and confusing social and digital change and, everywhere, by mounting mistrust of the mainstream.
From Italy to Finland, much of Europe’s centre right is as hardline on immigration as the far right, while far-right parties are busy projecting economic discipline, dialling back on Euroscepticism and downplaying past support for Russia.
“The far right’s rise has coincided with the decline of a certain kind of left,” Fieschi said. “Far-right parties now seem like a reasonable vote for many of the people who in previous circumstances would have voted for a popular, protective left.”
What has changed, she said, is that we live “in the era of control. The Brexiters got that. The left may promise protection, but the far right promises order and control. It can’t necessarily deliver it – but it speaks more to people’s individual and cultural fears.”
