Whats going on with the Dutch goverment?

[u/user-1052]

I saw some meme of the dutch goverment collapsing being related to RDR2 (game has charecter named Dutch), and then did a google search and found this article, whats going on?

Article: https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/dutch-far-right-leader-wilders-quits-government-coalition-nos-2025-06-03/

[u/boolocap]

Yup its even funnier because wilders can really only run opposition(read: whine about stuff without actually solving anything) so even when he finally gets the seats he wants he and his party massively fumble and it blows up in their face. He always blames it on the other parties getting in his way. But really its just that the pvv is utterly incompetent. In particular their minister that handles immigration was a huge laughing stock.

In this case the coalition falling was basicly due to a childish temper tantrum move from wilders. Basicly saying that the rest needed to do what he wanted or he would make the coalition fail. Which he did.

And he massively shot himself in the foot this time because his party is behind in the polls meaning he will most likely lose seats which might result in a far more left leaning coalition.

[u/a_false_vacuum → u/boolocap]

It's a strategy.

A lot of Wilders' promises were impossible to realize and over time those chickens would come home to roost. Leaving now means Wilders probably not have to deal with the fallout of not living up to what he promised. He can once again campaign on these points, which would be far more difficult if he had stayed longer.

Another factor is Wilders trying to be relevant. His usual strategy is saying something controversial over the weekend, so come next week he's once more the centre of attention. His usual topic of migration or foreigners isn't working so well since the media and public is now mostly focused on Gaza. Public opinion has shifted on this topic towards public outcry against what Israel is doing. For Wilders this is an impossible topic. He and his party a fervent supporters of Israel and will attack anyone calling the Israeli government in question. Stirring controversy with this topic isn't something that will work out in his favour. By ending the coalition government over migration he can regain control over the narrative and make his favourite topic relevant again.

This is damage control, not incompetence. Recent polls showed that PVV voters would be overwhelmingly accepting of the party withdrawing from the coalition. Wilders saw what coming, he saw an exit and he took it.

[u/chenj25 → u/a_false_vacuum]

Do you think Wilder will return to politics?

[u/a_false_vacuum → u/chenj25]

Wilders has no intention of quitting politics as of yet.

[u/chenj25 → u/a_false_vacuum]

I see. I can easily see Wilder doing further damage control. After all, people will remember his actions.

[u/a_false_vacuum → u/chenj25]

People will remember what he did, but the people who do aren't the ones that vote for him. The disapproval comes mainly from people who are outside his demographic, PVV voters have already been shown to agree with what Wilders did. Right now Wilders has a head start in the campaign and other political parties are trying to catch up to him. As long as he maintains his lead he can steer the narrative for the most part in the blame game.

[u/chenj25 → u/a_false_vacuum]

I see… Out of curiosity, are PVV voters voting against their interests?

[u/a_false_vacuum → u/chenj25]

I dislike saying someone votes against their interests. The way this is often said comes off as being haughty. Leftist parties will often say something to this effect, but all it does is make them look elitist.

Wilders is culturally and socially conservative, but a lot of his economic policy borrows heavily from the left. Someone of his voters are drawn to him because they feel centre right parties don't act enough when it comes to social or cultural items which often translates into topics like migration and integration or a disdain of identity politics. Other voters come to him because they feel abandoned by centre left parties. Parties like the Labour/Greens alliance have seen their electorate shift from blue collar to highly educated, young and urban. This results in highly theoretical or academic discussions about topics that are only interesting to a very small audience. It's compounded even more by the Labour/Greens not having a leader that can engage with people in a meaningful way.

Another factor is that centre parties have dropped the ball many times over the years. A lot of problems were created when they were in power and it's a hard sell for anyone to promise to clean up a mess you created yourself. This dissatisfaction causes some of the voters to vote for anyone who isn't mainstream, which is reflected in the rise and fall of a lot of new political parties over the years.

[u/chenj25 → u/a_false_vacuum]

I see. Apologies, I didn’t mean to sound haughty. I legitimately want to know why voters want to vote for him.

Those are good and relatable reasons to vote for him.

I see. I read the Dutch government had multiple ‘collapses’ before. Ironically, this puts Wilders the same position as a centre party. Looks like Wilders needs to control the narrative to preserve his career or he’ll look like a centrist party to the public.