Far-right violence in The Hague did not affect voter sentiment, poll shows

The right-wing extremist riots in The Hague on September 20 had little effect on the polls. The far-right PVV is still the largest party in Ipsos I&O’s latest poll with 31 seats, followed by the CDA (25) and GroenLinks-PvdA (23). The D66 did gain some support, climbing from 13 to 15 seats in the poll, but according to the researchers, this wasn’t because the party’s office was attacked during the riots.

On Saturday, September 20, an anti-immigration protest for a stricter asylum policy on the Malieveld in The Hague quickly devolved into riots. Rioters occupied the A12 highway, attacked the police, set police cars on fire, and attacked political buildings on and around the Binnenhof, including the D66 office. Intelligence service AIVD later confirmed that known far-right extremists were among the rioters.

The increase in support for the D66 in this week’s poll can not be attributed to the riots, but rather to more appreciation for party leader Rob Jetten, Ipsos I&O said. Among left-leaning progressive voters, Jetten is now the most popular party leader. He receives a rating of 7.4 out of 10 from this group, putting him well ahead of SP leader Jimmy Dij (6.9), GroenLinks-PvdA leader Frans Timmermans (6.8), and CDA leader Henri Bontenbal (6.8). Voters appreciate that Jetten is willing to work with left-wing and right-wing parties, and the D66 gained voters from both sides of the political spectrum.

Dutch voters largely view the far-right riots in The Hague through their own political convictions. 32 percent believe the violence was politically incited, 27 percent think politicians’ statements had nothing to do with the riots, and 24 percent think it's a bit of both. Left-wing progressive voters are much more likely to label the riots as political, and right-wing voters are far more likely to deny that.

71 percent of voters agree that “some political parties exploit the events at the demonstration for their own political gain.” 49 percent of voters think the PVV is using the riots for its own political gain, and 32 percent said GroenLinks-PvdA was doing this. Voters for D66, GroenLinks-PvdA, and CDA primarily say the PVV is trying to gain political advantage from the unrest, while right-wing voters for JA21 and PVV blame GroenLinks-PvdA. VVD voters mention both parties relatively often.

39 percent of voters agreed that rioters “were (partly) incited to do so by statements made by some politicians.” Of this group, 79 percent blame PVV leader Geert Wilders, 27 percent named BBB leader Caroline van der Plas, and 26 percent named VVD leader Dilan Yeşilgöz.