An undated video of Geert Wilders, the probable prime minister of The Netherlands notorious for his anti-Islam views, has gone viral on social media where he can be heard making another inflammatory remark against Muslims.
The video has been going viral on social media X as he looks to soften his image amidst expectations of him succeeding outgoing Prime Minister Mark Rutte after the recently-concluded elections which saw his Freedom Party (PVV) winning a majority of seats in the parliament.
Inflammatory remarks against Muslim
In the undated video, he purportedly said, “I have a message for all the Muslims in the Netherlands who do not respect our freedom, our democracy and our core values, who find the rules of the Quran more important than our secular laws—Get out,” he purportedly said.
“Leave for an Islamic country. Then, you can enjoy Islamic rules. Those are their rules, but not ours,” he added.
Geert Wilders aka “The Dutch Donald Trump” Goes off on Muslims
“I have a message for all Muslims in the Netherlands who do not respect our freedom, our democracy, and our core values, who find the rules of the Quran more important than our secular laws—GET OUT!
His Demands to… pic.twitter.com/y1MyH6mQIN
— UltraMJTruth (@MJTruthUltra) November 25, 2023
Disclaimer: WION could not independently verify the authenticity of the video, and the accuracy of the translation being provided
Despite winning a majority of seats in the Nov 22 elections, Freedom Party (PVV) is projected to hold only 24 per cent of seats in the Dutch parliament (that is 37 seats in the 150-member assembly), paving the way for coalition talks with other parties to form the government. The final results are expected to be declared next week.
However, due to Wilders’ extreme views, some parties have been hesitant to extend support.
Pieter Omtzigt, who leads the centrist NSC Party, which has 20 seats, and is seen as a likely partner in a Wilders’ government, has said cooperation would be difficult due to extreme positions Wilders has voiced that violate Dutch constitutional protections on freedom of religion, reports Reuters news agency.
Parties refusing to extend support due to Wilders’ extreme views
At the weekend, Wilders blasted other parties on social media X for not wanting to work with him and vowed that eventually, “I will be prime minister of this beautiful country.”
He said thwarting his ambition to become premier would betray democracy and said they had opened a “political bag of tricks”.
“If we are not given the opportunity to translate the voice and democratic mandate of millions of people into executive responsibility, we will only become bigger and bigger. Because the genie is out of the bottle and won’t go back in,” Wilders wrote.
(With inputs from agencies)
