Wilders collapses Dutch government in bid to be PM

Far-right leader Geert Wilders toppled the Dutch ruling coalition yesterday, gambling that an election focused on immigration will deliver victory for his party and secure his decades-old ambition of becoming prime minister.

- ALASTAIR JAMIESON

His Freedom Party (PVV) ditched Dick Schoof's government just weeks before the Netherlands hosts a major Nato summit in The Hague. It means a new election will take place – although no date has yet been set – just as Europe faces a resurgence of far-right sentiment on immigration.

“I intend to become the next prime minister,” Mr Wilders told reporters. “I am going to make the PVV bigger than ever.” But despite a European shift to the right – as seen in Poland’s presidential election on Sunday – his plan could still backfire.

Polls indicate declining popularity for the PVV since it joined the government. Even if it remains the largest party, fashioning a coalition will be difficult in a deeply polarised nation. Mr Schoof said he and ministers from his party will remain in office in a caretaker capacity until the election, and that he would offer the resignation of PVV ministers to the Dutch king.