Dutch people went to the polls for early general elections. In the country, where voting started at 07.30 local time, the polls closed at 21.00. According to the election surveys conducted in the country, it is expected that four political parties will win the elections neck and neck and a coalition government will be formed after weeks of negotiations. Prime Minister of the coalition government in the Netherlands, Mark Rutte, announced that he decided to resign in July after serving for 13 years.
Among those who could become prime minister instead of Rutte is Turkish-born Dilan Yeşilgöz. The Dutch press wrote that Dilan Yeşilgöz’s party would be the party that received the most votes in the election. Thus, the task of forming the government will be Dilan Yeşilgöz. Dilan Yeşilgöz serves as the current Minister of Security and Justice of the Netherlands.
According to the latest election polls; The government’s major partner, the People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), led by Dilan Yeşilgöz, appeared to be ahead by a narrow margin. Dilan Yeşilgöz’s biggest assistant in forming a coalition government will be Geert Wilders, a 60-year-old politician known for his anti-Islam statements.
COALITION MEETINGS WILL START
After the results become official, negotiations to form a government will begin. It is stated that the process in which the party with the most seats in the parliament will propose to other parties to form a government may take days, weeks or even months. Previously, the government in the country was established in 229 days after the election in 2021, this process took 225 days in 2017, 208 days in 1977 and 54 days in 2012.
In the country, which has been constantly governed by coalition governments in recent years, a party must receive the support of at least 76 of the 150 deputies in the parliament in order to form a government.
According to the latest polls, the People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), led by the interim government’s Minister of Justice and Security Dilan Yeşilgöz-Zegerius, is expected to come first by winning 29 seats, although its votes decreased compared to the previous elections.
It is stated that the Freedom Party (PVV), led by the anti-Islamic and far-right Geert Wilders, can increase the 17 seats it won in the 2021 election to over 20.
In the polls, PVV is followed by the Workers’ Party (PvdA) and the Green Left (Groen Links), which formed an alliance and entered the elections together, with 24 seats.
The New Social Contract Party (NSC), led by Pieter Omtzigt, who left the Christian Democratic Union (CDA), which is the coalition party in the current government, and founded a new party, is expected to enter the parliament with around 20 seats.
It is seen that among the coalition parties, CDA will win 4 seats, Democrats 66 (D66) will win 11 seats and Christian Union Party (CU) will win 4 seats.
It is observed that the parties in the coalition could not reach the total number of 76 seats, which is sufficient to form a government, according to the survey.
DENK PARTY, FIGHTING AGAINST RACISM AND DISCRIMINATION, IS ON THE RISE
The Denk Party, which has been fighting against racism and discrimination and defending the rights of Palestine since 2017 when it entered the House of Representatives in the Netherlands, is also participating in the election.
The Denk Party, which is represented in the parliament with 3 seats and whose members are mostly Turkish and immigrants, is competing with 46 candidates in this election.
There are 26 candidates of Turkish origin in the Denk Party. According to the polls, the Denk Party, which is expected to increase its votes, has the possibility of winning 4 seats.
Yeşilgöz-Zegerius, the interim government’s Minister of Justice and Security, whose family emigrated from Turkey to the Netherlands, leaves the door open to a coalition with the anti-Islamic and far-right PVV led by Wilders.
Yeşilgöz-Zegerius, who became the head of the VVD after the leadership of the Dutch interim government’s Prime Minister Mark Rutte, supported the Dutch Parliament’s bill recognizing Armenian claims regarding the 1915 events when she was a member of parliament from the VVD party in 2018. On the other hand, Yeşilgöz-Zegerius made history as the first minister of justice in the country without a law degree.
In the Netherlands, the coalition government consisting of VVD, CDA, D66 and CU resigned on July 7, 2023 due to disagreements in immigration policies. (AA)
