Far-Right Leader Pulls Out of Dutch Governing Coalition
Geert Wilders, the far-right leader of the biggest political party in the Netherlands, announced Tuesday that he would withdraw his ministers from the country's governing coalition over a dispute about migration, setting off a new political crisis.
The move will likely trigger the imminent collapse of a government that was sworn in less than a year ago, as well as new elections.
Mr. Wilders announced the withdrawal of his Party for Freedom from the four-party coalition on X, saying the decision was made because of his partners' refusal to sign off on a new list of proposals to curb migration.
'No signature for our migration plans,' he wrote in the message.
The Party for Freedom, which has advocated banning the Quran, closing Islamic schools and entirely halting the acceptance of asylum seekers, won the largest number of seats in November 2023 elections, sending shock waves through the Dutch political system.
Mr. Wilders was able to form a government with three other right-wing parties — the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy, a center-right party; the Farmer Citizen Movement, a populist pro-farmer party; and New Social Contract, a new centrist party — after seven months of negotiations last year.
Together, the four parties hold 88 seats in the 150-seat House of Representatives.
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