The anti-Islam, euroskeptic radical Geert Wilders is projected to be the shock winner of the Dutch election.

In a dramatic result that will stun European politics, his Freedom Party (PVV) is set to win around 35 of the 150 seats in parliament — more than double the number it secured in the 2021 election, according to exit polls.

Frans Timmermans’ Labour-Green alliance is forecast to take second place, winning 25 seats — a big jump from its current 17. Dilan Yeşilgöz, outgoing premier Mark Rutte’s successor as head of the center-right VVD, suffered heavy losses and is on course to take 24 seats, 10 fewer than before, according to the updated exit poll by Ipsos for national broadcaster NOS.

A win for Wilders will put the Netherlands on track — potentially — for a dramatic shift in direction, after Rutte’s four consecutive centrist governments. The question now, though, is whether any other parties are willing to join Wilders to form a coalition. Despite emerging as the largest party, he will lack an overall majority in parliament.

  • @steven
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    17 months ago

    Would you argue that the head of the state of the Netherlands is the king? It being written to be so doesn’t mean it is so in practice.

    • @Kusimulkku@lemm.ee
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      17 months ago

      Would I argue that the king is the head of the state of the Kingdom of the Netherlands? Obviously?

      The Kingdom of the Netherlands (Dutch: Koninkrijk der Nederlanden, pronounced [ˈkoːnɪŋkrɛik dɛr ˈneːdərlɑndə(n)] ⓘ),[g] commonly known simply as the Netherlands,[h] is a sovereign state consisting of a collection of autonomous territories united under the monarch of the Netherlands who functions as head of state.

      • @steven
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        7 months ago

        Sure that’s in paper. But does he head the state? North Korea is also a democratic republic if you go by the official definition…

        I’m from Belgium, which is also a kingdom, but our king has absolutely no power. The state is headed by the federal government, not by the king, in practice. I would imagine that to be the case in the Netherlands too.

        • @Kusimulkku@lemm.ee
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          17 months ago

          A head of state (or chief of state) is the public persona who officially embodies a state in its unity and legitimacy. Depending on the country’s form of government and separation of powers, the head of state may be a ceremonial figurehead or concurrently the head of government and more.