Politics and Elections in the Netherlands: coalition agreement presented

[TheDeadFlagBlues]

Meerssen results: wow very disappointing for SP

VVD 19.6% (-5.3%)
PVV 18% (+3.7%)
CDA 16.4% (+5.8%)
D66 12.1% (+5.1%) wtf
SP 11.3% (-1.5%)
GL 7.2% (+5.2%)
50+ 4.7% (+2.6%)
PvdA 4.2% (-18.2%) rofl rofl rofl rofl

What's going on with D66?

[TheDeadFlagBlues]

The very underwhelming performance of the PVV and the corresponding celebrations of left-liberals are totally misplaced and leading them to overlook a more disturbing trend: the far-right's message is being co-opted by center-right parties and, in a sense, the far-right has "won" the argument on nationalism and immigration. This, too, is a hot take and probably overly hyperbolic for the reason that anti-immigrant sentiment has always been fairly normal in the Netherlands but, nevertheless, these election results give no one on the left any reason to celebrate. They're yet another depressing data point, proof that when more respectable parties adopt the language of the far-right, that they will achieve a great deal of success.

All elections are "local" in the sense that particular factors drive them so this probably isn't generalizable outside of the Netherlands but it's rather apparent that there's some sort of tendency or trend where parties of the center-right are becoming more "illiberal" and achieving success. You could point to France as an example but, then again, you could also say it's an example of why this sort of analysis is misplaced because Fillon is failing and Macron is succeeding. I think I agree with the latter contention.

[TheDeadFlagBlues]

totally depends on what your short-term priorities are as "lefties".....immigration rights are atm not my nr1 issue as long as we are literally still handling a few million immigrants from 2015....if we have "swallowed" that challenge we can talk again.

the primary goal of the far right during the last years has been destroying the EU, which seemed quite likely after brexit...one year later, this ambition has been crushed in Austria, in the Netherlands and - most likely - soon also in France.

So, in otherwords, a project of European elites that's primarily governed/steered by the European right has been successfully defended. So, uh, yeah, there's no reason for someone who's left-wing to celebrate (though maybe a reason to feel sort of relieved, I'll admit).