Wilders ruling far-right PVV with iron fist since election win: report
Geert Wilders and the other two members of the PVV top have been strictly controlling what the 37 PVV parliamentarians can do and say since the election victory, including orchestrating several targeted arguments with PVV Cabinet members, Nieuwsuur reported after speaking to 17 PVV MPs. Somehow, Wilders has managed to become the largest party in the ruling coalition, while still acting as opposition in the Tweede Kamer, the lower house of the Dutch parliament.
Nieuwsuur spoke to the PVV parliamentarians on the condition of anonymity, because speaking to the press is one of the things they’re not allowed to do.
According to the MPs, Wilders’ main focus is to maintain the PVV’s political profile. The voter must see that the PVV is principled, even though this often clashes with the ruling reality, they said. This has resulted in PVV MPs strategically clashing with Cabinet members from their own party in recent months.
For example, PVV MP Willem Boukan attacked PVV State Secretary Chris Jansen in a debate about rules for recycled cups. “I can’t believe you are deliberately destroying a company,” Boutkan told Jansen, pushing for an exemption for companies and hospitals from European recycling rules.
MP René Claassen attacked Public Health Minister Fleur Agema about the Zuyderland Hospital in Heerlen. Wilders promised in the election campaign that the PVV would keep the hospital open, but Agema had to conclude that this was impossible. MP Jeremy Mooiman recently had to defend a rent increase, while his party promised rent reduction. And Wilders himself got into a heated argument with Justice State Secretary Ingrid Coenradie about her plans for staff shortages in prison. Wilders threatened her with dismissal.
If a PVV Cabinet member comes up with a plan that goes against party politics, the MPs have “our backs against the wall,” several of them told Nieuwsuur. “So we are fighting back.”
The PVV parliamentarians are also not allowed to talk to the press, they said. “If someone sees me talking to you or shaking your hand, my name will be going around in the party,” one told the program. Wilders and the other two members of the party leadership, Léon de Jong and Edgar Muller, continually instruct the party on how to deal with the press.
Earlier this month, De Jong sent a message to the party about talking to journalists. “Various media are working on items about our party, about our working methods, etc. These are internal party matters about which we do not make any statements. That is perfectly normal. Thank you for your cooperation. Please forward all media requests to Edgar and the undersigned.” This message is often repeated at party meetings.
The PVV has only one spokesperson, compared to six for the second-largest party in parliament, GroenLinks-PvdA. The second-largest party in the coalition, VVD, has five. The PVV’s spokesperson is a former faction leader from Lelystad with no experience in addressing the media. He was appointed with one instruction: “Keep the press at bay and entertain it.” The spokesperson does not attend party meetings. The PVV also does not allow phones at party meetings, for fear of being tapped.
The other coalition parties are also finding it difficult to work with the PVV, which remains a closed party. In the first weeks of the Schoof I government, the PVV members were simply unreachable when coalition partners wanted to talk with them, according to the current affairs program. The coalition spoke to Wilders about this during the budget negotiations in August last year. Contact with colleagues has improved since then, but interaction remains limited, the other parties told Nieuwsuur.
Nieuwsuur also specifically noted a reluctance to talk about the PVV’s key issues, like migration and Islam. When the program’s journalists brought up these topics, none of the 17 MPs they spoke to wanted to discuss them. Not even anonymously. They responded with “not my portfolio” and referred the journalists to Wilders.
