It's official: former Immigration minister Rita Verdonk's party 'Trots op Nederland' ('Proud of the The Netherlands') is to compete in the 2010 municipal elections in 38 municipalities.

Among them are Amsterdam, Utrecht, The Hague, Eindhoven and Almere.

Geert Wilders' party is also competing in The Hague and Almere.

Verdonk's party is widely expected to benefit in municipalities where Wilders is not competing. The VVD, a party of conservative libertarians, is seen to lose seats to Verdonk's party as well. The VVD - for which both Rita Verdonk and Geert Wilders were once Members of Parliament - was earlier expected to be the main beneficiary of disgruntled voters on the right who are unable to vote for Wilders in their municipality. But with Verdonk jumping into the fray in the last minute, these voters now have an alternative to vote for as many of them do not feel the VVD to be tough enough on immigration.

The platform of Trots op Nederland (TON) is roughly comparable to that of Wilders' 'Partij voor de Vrijheid' ('Freedom Party'): a tough anti-immigration agenda, and tough on crime and social welfare programmes.

http://www.dutchnews.nl/news/archives/2010...mpete_in_38.php

Rita Verdonk is recruiting candidates in Amsterdam in order to compete there.

http://www.nieuwsuitamsterdam.nl/nl/2009/1...-multicultureel

A spokesman for Rita Verdonk's party confirmed that Verdonk's party HQ had sent out emails to contacts asking people to step forward.

Polls show that Verdonk's party stands a chance to gain footholds in several municipalities where Wilders isn't competing.

blarfy (Nov 28 2009, 07:26 PM) said: > original post
Even if she's a drunk, it doesn't account for her policies. Only a crackhead village idiot with a Napoleon complex and bipolar tendencies could have come up with that stuff and expected it to work. If she does take seats from the Dear Peroxide Leader, all the better. (But maybe he needs to become PM with the resulting totally embarrassment of NL internationally and be such the abject failure domestically, that parts of the electorate stop supporting him.)

D66 pulled the plug on Verdonk since no one else had the balls, and they're now back in the saddle again. PvDA's still sinking in the polls.

I'm sorry, but what you're saying is simply not true. "D66 pulled the plug on Verdonk since no one else had the balls" -- after supporting her for nigh-on 3 years, thank you! The ridiculous toughening of the 'inburgeringscursus'-crap many well-educated immigrants have to contend with these days received full support of D66 in government.

D66 finally pulled the plug on the second government of Balkenende (CDA/VVD/D66) because the prime minister made a politicial mistake, which he tried to cover up. However, after a 10-hour debate he accidentally admitted the cover-up. He had lied to D66, his own coalition party, which then saw no other option but walk out of government.

Verdonk's actions against Ayaan Hirsi Ali was the proverbial bomb in the cellar, but Balkenende lit the fuse by admitting that a solution had to be constructed that would have politically protected Rita Verdonk. For 10 long hours, he denied ever devising such a political protection. Only at 02:30 in the morning did he make a slip of the tongue, accidentally admitting it and thus exposing his lie.

D66 figured at the time that the walk-out would benefit them in the polls, as the government was highly impopular and they were being dragged down, too. However, voters saw through their superficial ploy and punished them: D66 went down to 3 seats in Parliament in the next elections.

the_purplecow (Nov 20 2009, 04:52 PM) said: > original post
No sh!t, Sherlock.

**



Last i saw Wilders was not riding particularly high in Amsterdam, especially compared with (say) the Rotterdam/Den Haag conurbation - the traditional home of racism and xenophobia in Nederland.

Recently Verdonk sobered up long enough to attempt to re-launch her 'Trots op Nederland' party in Amsterdam. Voters were promised a meet-and-greet with the party muckety-mucks, and free refreshments. Precisely 34 people showed up. So it looks like the Nazis won't be gaining a toe-hold in Amsterdam at least anytime soon.

Don't confuse the number of people showing up at events with polls, or even the result on election night.

By far the largest number of Wilders- and Verdonk-supporters are so-called 'inactives', people who have nothing to do and don't want to have anything to do with society.

They hardly ever turn up to vote, as they're not interested in politics because they view politicians as robbers. Their interest in society stops when they leave their front door. As such, they never turn up in polls because by far most of them are not interested in taking part.

The first time they showed themselves in mass numbers was during the national elections of 2002, when the vast majority of them voted for Pim Fortuyn's party. After that they disappeared from the radar again.

It didn't show in turnout numbers, at first. Only later did intensive research show that the final turnout number didn't differ that much from the 1998 elections because many PvdA voters stayed home. Had they also gone to the voting booth, national turnout would have been much higher, showing the influence of the 'new' electorate (the inactives) in 2002.

The major victory for the PvdA in 2006 was in part the result of a mass turnout of immigrant voters, mainly Turkish, Moroccan and Surinamese. The average turnout of voters in this group hovered between 30 and 35% in the municipal elections of 1994, 1998, 2002, but shot up to between 80 and 85% in '06, resulting in a smashing victory for the PvdA, which was then in opposition to the right-wing CDA/VVD/D66 government, in which Rita Verdonk was immigration minister.

Relatively few people go to political party events. Take your average Wilders event, for instance; a couple of hundred people, no lines outside, some chairs even remain empty inside the venue.

But his supporters will go out to vote in massive numbers in The Hague and Almere next year, and even though many Wilders fans will stay home in Rotterdam, Amsterdam and Utrecht because he's not competing there, I can guarantee you that at least a third of his electorate will swing Verdonk's way, and that of the right-wing VVD (which in Amsterdam and Rotterdam is already trying to put on a Wilders-Light cloak).

People, people, be nice to each other, please... Would you be this tough in a bar filled with friendly people?

Anyhoo. The fact that Rita Verdonk won seats because Wilders wasn't participating - that's exactly the point, she will also be participating in Amsterdam, Rotterdam and - I think - Utrecht, all cities where Wilders is riding high in the polls, but where he won't be participating. Verdonk will, though.

And look at it this way. If Verdonk can make a splash by gaining 2 seats in a relatively small municipality such as Zuidplas, imagine how many seats she'd gain in those big cities where Wilders isn't competing with her...