How will the Dutch vote?

#23

Today, elections are held in the Netherlands.

It is a snap election since the current cabinet collapsed on 7 July 2023 due to disagreements on immigration policy.

I have created a brief overview of which people are important in the election, which I would like to share here:

(1)
Mark Rutte, 56, who has served as prime minister of the Netherlands since 2010, is not running again for office. 

(2) 
Dilan Yeşilgöz, 46, wants to succeed Rutte in office. As party leader of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (Dutch: Volkspartij voor Vrijheid en Democratie, VVD), a right-liberal party, Yeşilgöz has already achieved this. If she can succeed Rutte as prime minister will be decided today. Polls see her party on par with Geert Wilders' Party for Freedom (PVV).

(3) 
The right-wing populist Geert Wilders, 60, has recently celebrated a surprising comeback and could become the next Dutch Prime Minister. To become this, his party would not only have to win the most votes in today's election but also have to be able to form a coalition with Yeşilgöz's VVD party and Pieter Omtzigt's party.

(4) 
Pieter Omtzigt, 49, is THE star of this election campaign. Only in August 2023 did he found a new party called New Social Contract. He was ahead in polls for quite a while. But now pollsters see Wilders and Yeşilgöz in the lead. Omtzig wants to change that: reforming electoral law should bind members of parliament more closely to their regional base. A constitutional court should be established. And war is also being declared on the notorious housing shortage and poverty.

(5) 
Frans Timmerman, 62, leads a left-wing electoral alliance. His election campaign went poorly. But there is still hope: the fear of a right-wing government coalition with Prime Minister Geert Wilders could drive voters into Timmerman's arms on election day. 

However, the mood among the people is probably not that way at the moment. Another poll has revealed (according to the German FAZ) that almost half of eligible voters would prefer a right-wing alliance of Wilders, Omtzigt, Yeşilgöz and another party, the Farmers Citizens Movement (BBB). Only 32 per cent want a left-wing government, 28 per cent a centre alliance. So it is quite likely that one of the most economically open countries in the world (92 per cent of economic output is exported) will soon have a government that is not that open.

Johannes Eber