Never a dull moment with my compatriot Geert Wilders!
At the June 9 national elections in Holland, he got 15% of the vote, 24 mandates out of 150 in Parliament, and hoped to be unavoidable at the formation of a right-wing Government with the winning conservative Liberal Party VVD (31/150) and the crushed Christien Democrats (CDA), who lost half of their following, scoring only 21/150.
Arithmetically, a VVD-PVV-CDA coalition (31+24+21= 76 out of 150) would have been possible. As much so, as the fundamentalist Christian SGP party (2 mandates, forbids women to take office on biblical grounds) offered its support.
But an intervention of the Queen and her advisers helped the young new VVD leader Mark Rutte, to have NOT to negotiate about the loony Wilders Government programme. The final blow came from the new CDA leader Maxime Verhagen, acting Foreign Minister, in a parliamentary debate, when he rejected any compromise on the program of Wilders' PVV, as it puts forward proposals that undermine the Rule Of Law and the democratic State.
It was very late in the process, but just in time, we thought. But, once again, I have been too optimistic. Or, if you like, not pessimistic enough.
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