Geert Wilders Fails In Dutch Elections

What about Liechtenstein and Andorra and San Marino?

caw

I was very anxious these past weeks, but after the official exit-poll came out, I was very relieved. Solid proof Wilders does not speak for "the" people, as he is fond of saying. More than 80 percent of people in Holland said to him: "Why don't you go and fuck yourself."

So, we'll stay in the EU, at least for now, Syrian refugees will still be welcome, more or less (rather less, because of the right-wing cabinet, that is sure to be formed), the rule of law and the constitution will be upheld and the neo-liberal destruction of our welfare state will continue. No action on climate change. Barely heard the word during the campaing.

All this sounds like a victory for Wilders in four years.

No! Not now, no complaining! I will celebrate this victory, goddamned!

Call me a hopeless optimist but I think that Trump is beginning to realize that the people he speaks for are only a fragment of our population. He's not ruling, he's still campaigning, trying in vain to win more supporters while he is alienating all but his base. --s6

This makes me glad. Of course the problems persist.

If FN wins in France, Europe may still break. If all goes well though, France, Germany and Netherlands will be at the core of a relatively stable EU, deal with the Brexit BS and start on the next step with a tighter collaboration. And hopefully all this will have been a wake-up call.

Regarding neoliberal crap, well the right wing isn't gonna fix that. These neo-right nationalist parties are just as neoliberal as the old parties. Look at what Trump is doing - all wealth to the rich. Front National and Alternative for Germany are just as bad. They aren't magically socialists. All they are is anti-immigrant, pro-nationalism. Their economic or social programme is nonexistent. Nationalism is no fix for poverty and inequality. No magic drug.

I hope these nationalist loudmouths are gonna get defeated across (Western) Europe. People are starting to increasingly see through their lies. Brexit, too, is built on nothing but lies. "We'll be better off on our own!" - Yeah, no. You won't. They lied to you. You'll just go down alone. Some sort of supranational network is actually not a terrible idea. It just needs to be done right. For starters, the European parliament needs to be given more power because unlike the Commission, it actually represents the people.

Hopefully we'll not drop the ball after all.

Those people who voted for Wilders, your dissent is duly noted. Most people just don't agree.

I'm sooo glad to see him lose. Congrats to the Dutch people on shooting this one down. It gives me hope that sanity can prevail, even if it's hasn't in my own country.

kneedeepinthedoomed said:

If FN wins in France, Europe may still break.

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FN will not win the French elections.

Now, before you shoot me down with "That's what we said about Trump", keep in mind that the French voting system is completely different. For one thing, a French president is voted in by popular vote, not electoral college.

France has two rounds of voting. In the first round, everyone votes for who they want. No silly talk about "third party candidates" and "wasted votes". That's why there are five candidates in the first round: Emmanuel Macron, Marine Le Pen, Francois Hamon, Jean-Luc Melenchon, and Francois Fillon. Everyone will try to get their candidate into the second round. The two front runners are Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen, and they will continue to the second round. There everyone that's not FN will vote for Macron.

"But the polls, they're shit", you now say. Well, they're not so bad because if they're wrong, they're so wrong we have to abandone numbers themselves, because then obviously not even numbers can be trusted. So, despite the breathless attention given to Marine Le Pen by english-speaking media, the French elections are boring. Whoever gets into the 2nd round with Le Pen will win.

The interesting elections come one month after the Presidential one, when the seats for the National Assembly are up for grabs. Unless a president can command a majority there, he or she will spend the next five years cutting ribbons. If there is "cohabitation", meaning that the Prime Minister is of a different party than the President, then all the power of the Republic will reside with the Prime Minister. After the French election, the game is on to get the president that needed majority.