Populist politicians threatening democracy, trade union says

Populist politicians such as those of the German AfD pose a threat to democracy. FNV chairman Tuur Elzinga stated this on Tuesday during the Henri Polak lecture in Amsterdam about the ideology of the trade union movement.

According to him, the Dutch government and those of other countries have not listened enough to people's concerns about their work and income. "Authoritarian, populist politicians promise to take away people's concerns and mobilize this discontent among voters. But once authoritarian leaders are in power, they mainly take away democratically acquired freedoms and rights, and the concerns remain," he states. According to Elzinga, the actual causes of the problems and "the real elite," such as large companies, would remain out of the picture.

The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party won the elections in the German state of Thuringia last Sunday. The party also received many votes in Saxony. Elzinga calls the AfD "a far-right party that openly collaborates with neo-Nazis in these states and is therefore branded as far-right and a threat to democracy by the German security services."

The union leader also aimed at Donald Trump and Geert Wilders in his speech. "The fact that Trump praises Xi Jinping, who as a great leader "controls 1.4 billion people with an iron fist", reveals a lot about his ambitions. The fact that Orbán immediately visits Putin, Xi, and Trump as soon as Hungary takes over the presidency of the EU, shows where he sees the European future," said Elzinga. "And if Wilders, in turn, sees Orbán and Trump as examples, it is not surprising that he leads his own party dictatorially."

Elzinga wants democracy to prevail and believes it is worth fighting for, he says in an interview with the Volkskrant. "It would be a shame if we were to lose democracy again. People now tend to vote again for parties that come up with simple solutions and curtail democratic rights and freedoms as soon as they are in power."

The FNV's latest manifesto also calls for more democracy in large international companies that have gained a lot of uncontrollable power. The trade union wants a " new democratic revolution to switch off the engine of capital accumulation," Elzinga tells the Volkskrant. The trade union leader explains that ecology and economy can no longer be considered separately to guarantee this revolution. After all, "there are no jobs on a dead planet," Elzinga stresses.