While support for the Netherlands’ ruling liberal-globalist parties continues to decline precipitously as the country reels economically from the sanctions imposed against Russia, two of the country’s anti-establishment Rightist parties have witnessed a marked uptick in their popularity, a new opinion poll has indicated.
The survey, carried out by the Dutch polling firm Peil on November 11th and 12th, has revealed that if elections were held today, Geert Wilder’s populist-nationalist Party for Freedom (PVV) would become the largest party in the Netherlands, while JA21—a national-conservative party formed by politicians who parted ways with Forum for Democracy (FvD) in 2020— would become the third largest party.
According to data extracted from the poll, together, the two national Rightist parties would garner 36 seats in the House of Representatives, the lower house in the bicameral parliament of the Netherlands, with PVV taking 21 seats and JA21 taking 15 seats.
Since the onset of the Russo-Ukraine war, the ruling liberal coalition has witnessed its popular support drop of a cliff due to its inability, or indifference, to address the growing economic concerns of working and middle-class Dutch people which have come about as a result of the ill-considered sanctions the government imposed against Russia.
To put things in perspective, prior to the war, the ruling coalition enjoyed a level of support that earned them 79 seats in the lower house. If elections were held today, however, the same four parties that make up the governing coalition—VVD, D66, CDA, and CU—would win just 43 seats.
Wilders, who was obviously quite pleased from the new polling data, took to Twitter to share the information with his one million followers, writing: “PVV on 1! Virtually the largest party in the Netherlands!”
Also responding to the new poll, Annabel Nanninga, one of founding members of JA21, wrote: “So proud of our party and the incredible journey we have made together over the past two years to this point. And this is just the beginning… The Netherlands votes right, but got left. Together we can stop that now!.
