Voting Guide
This October, Dutch citizens will once again head to the polls. A fitting moment, perhaps, to frame this blog as a kind of voting guide. Aside from knowing where my readers are based, I know relatively little about you — let alone your political preferences. Perhaps politics leaves you cold. Or perhaps you’re among those who consider voting a civic duty, a right never to be taken for granted.
I count myself in that latter camp. In times like these, staying home simply isn’t an option. So: choose wisely — and make your voice heard.
A Question of Responsibility
In the last general election, the far-right PVV led by Geert Wilders emerged as the largest party. To be clear: when I complete a voting guide myself, the PVV invariably ranks at the very bottom.
For the first time in its existence, the PVV — a party with a single formal member — was granted a share of governing responsibility. That experiment was short-lived. Wilders withdrew his party’s support, and the cabinet collapsed. Thus fell the Schoof government — a coalition cobbled together with the help of the VVD, which had already played a key role in toppling the previous cabinet, Rutte IV, with what was widely seen as a misleading narrative about family reunification.
New VVD party leader Dilan Yesilgöz subsequently opened the door — ever so slightly — to a future coalition with the PVV, breaking with the firm stance held by her predecessor, Mark Rutte, who had sworn never to work with Wilders again, even in a support arrangement.
More Problems Than Solutions
Successive Dutch governments have, over the past decade, arguably created more problems than they’ve solved: from the childcare benefits scandal to the fallout of natural gas extraction in Groningen, the asylum reception crisis, the persistent nitrogen dispute, and the deepening housing shortage.
What these cabinets had in common was the VVD — the party that held power throughout. Perhaps it’s time VVD voters asked themselves some hard questions.
The Migration Trap
The decision by the VVD to bring down Rutte IV over asylum and migration policy — only to later engage in coalition talks with the PVV — may well go down as a spectacular strategic blunder. If you fall on that topic and then align yourself with the party that has made it its defining issue, it should surprise no one that voters shift their support to the original.
And now the Schoof cabinet, too, has collapsed over precisely the same theme.
If we want to avoid repeating the same political theatre, asylum and migration must not dominate the campaign once again. There are, quite simply, more urgent challenges. And if anything should shame a country as wealthy as the Netherlands, it is the state of our asylum procedures and reception facilities. They are, by any reasonable standard, inhumane.
Time for the Opposition
The PVV has failed to deliver on its key promise: the toughest-ever asylum and migration policy. Wilders has blamed his coalition partners — VVD, NSC, and BBB — but the real problem appears to lie with the lack of competence within his own ministerial ranks.
In my view, the PVV has shown itself unfit to govern. It has overreached and underperformed. The VVD, too, should be held accountable if it continues down this same road. NSC, once a promising force for renewal and rule of law, has been left rudderless following the departure of Pieter Omtzigt. BBB, meanwhile, has floundered on the nitrogen issue.
Together, these parties formed the short-lived Schoof cabinet. They would do well to reflect from the opposition benches in the next parliamentary term.
A Coalition from the Centre
Looking ahead, perhaps the best hope for stable, forward-looking governance lies in the formation of a broad centrist coalition. Ideally, one that does not include the VVD — although whether such a constellation is numerically possible remains to be seen.
It may require GroenLinks/PvdA, CDA, and D66 to join forces with smaller parties such as Volt, the Party for the Animals, or the Christian Union before turning once again to the liberals.
Beyond the Soundbites
If you’re still unsure where to place your vote, an online voting guide is a helpful starting point. But it also pays to reflect on the record: what did your party of choice actually achieve in the past four years?
Much of what dominates headlines — the fiery debates, the talk show appearances — is style over substance. Don’t be seduced by slick media appearances. If you want real value for your vote, look to results, not rhetoric. Even if past performance is no guarantee for the future, it remains one of the few indicators we have.