<
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/oct/30/rob-jetten-anti-wilders-yes-we-can-candidate-next-dutch-pm>
"Rob Jetten, a former junior athlete, was pictured last month in a sports
magazine running merrily past the Dutch prime ministerial office in The Hague.
The 38-year-old could be forgiven on Thursday for wondering when he will get
the keys.
Such is the nature of Dutch politics that confirmation will not come for weeks
or even months. But after a general election in which Jetten’s
liberal-progressive D66 party made huge gains, he appears almost certain to be
the Netherlands’ next prime minister.
Speaking to an ecstatic crowd of supporters on Wednesday night, Jetten said the
backing for his pro-European, pro-climate party marked the end of the far
right’s stranglehold over Dutch politics – and showed the rest of Europe that
the centre can hold.
“We have turned the page on [Geert] Wilders,” he said as crowds waved the Dutch
flag. The mainstream parties, he added, had proved it was “possible to beat the
populist movement and to beat the extreme right”."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
