Dutch cabinet collapses!

[woutR]

Our prime minister's fourth cabinet has fallen. Balkenende has never served a full term, every time the cabinet has fallen prematurely
And you may think your own countries' politics sucks..

Long story short: the cabinet has fallen because the ruling parties could not agree on staying/leaving the war in Afghanistan. (In the Netherlands there is no one party ruling, but there's usually a combination of three parties, with a strong opposition.)

So in ~3 months we have elections, and it's going to be really scary. There is a fair chance our "Party for Freedom" (PVV) will win. I don't know if you know, but this is an extreme right wing party with an anti-Islam/foreigners policy.
Now that the cabinet has fallen, more votes are going to be divided among other parties, and there currently is no 'strong' party. (Usually, there always is a strong party with 40 seats, now there isn't a party that breaks 30. This means that a coalition of at least 4 parties will have to be formed, which makes making decisions even harder)

I'd sooner kill myself than live in a country that's ruled by Wilders (leader of the PVV). Perhaps you know of Wilders from his film, Fitna, and all the commotion around it.

Either way, I'm glad I have two passports, and I know which one I will be using if Wilders wins

Spoiler!

Joke picture on Balkenende's first cabinet. Balkenende looks like Harry Potter so they made this pic.
Text reads: "Let the chaos begin, Jan Peter Balkenende and the room full of retards. Now, in your cabinet!"
(This first cabinet only lasted three months T_T)

[Zyphir]

I guess Belgium and the Netherlands both have sucky politics lol. I think Belgium has had 4 different governments in 1 year and a half ... But it's a fact that Wilders is doing very well and I think he's quite dangerous ... He seems like a new Hitler to me, not so bad, but still ...

[xVision]

I guess Belgium and the Netherlands both have sucky politics

Evryone have a sucky politics!

[asusi]

I guess Belgium and the Netherlands both have sucky politics lol. I think Belgium has had 4 different governments in 1 year and a half ... But it's a fact that Wilders is doing very well and I think he's quite dangerous ... He seems like a new Hitler to me, not so bad, but still ...

Wilders seems like Hitler? JOKE!!!
Hitler was very evil demonic guy, but cause of him we got VW one of best selling cars in Europe, and don't forget Autobahn(highway)
Best thing what wilders did is sending him self threatening letters out of name of some "unknown muslim guy" they traced the mails and it turned out that wilders was the sender... what a poor guy.

[woutR]

Best thing what wilders did is sending him self threatening letters out of name of some "unknown muslim guy" they traced the mails and it turned out that wilders was the sender... what a poor guy.

Never heard of this, link?

edit: just googled every combination of fake, "nep brief", "nep bedreiging" and all sorts of other things, but nothing turned up. Wiki also doesn't mention anything about it.
I think you may have a scoop here, Asusi.

[Zyphir]

I guess Belgium and the Netherlands both have sucky politics lol. I think Belgium has had 4 different governments in 1 year and a half ... But it's a fact that Wilders is doing very well and I think he's quite dangerous ... He seems like a new Hitler to me, not so bad, but still ...

Wilders seems like Hitler? JOKE!!!
Hitler was very evil demonic guy, but cause of him we got VW one of best selling cars in Europe, and don't forget Autobahn(highway)
Best thing what wilders did is sending him self threatening letters out of name of some "unknown muslim guy" they traced the mails and it turned out that wilders was the sender... what a poor guy.

I just made that comparison because he also tries to blame muslims for things that happen and that the world will be "unpure" because of muslims coming over. There's a reason why Great Britain first forbade him to come to England. Anyway, I'm not a fan of Wilders, he's too extrimistic.

[XemnasXD]

would help if you explained what exactly the cabinet is...in the US im pretty sure it means something completely different...

[woutR]

Oh sorry, in the Netherlands we have 150 seats to be divided in parliament.
There has to be a coalition with 75 seats in parliament to be able to rule. One party will bring forth the prime minister, this is the party that gets the most seats in the elections.
However, one party is never enough to get 75 seats, so there is a coalition of parties that reach 75 seats (or more) together. This coalition is called the cabinet.

Our ruling parties disagreed too much, and now the cabinet has fallen. This means we have no effective ruling government. No new decisions can be made, only old cases will be handled. We call this inter-cabinet a "demissionair kabinet", but idk how to translate that. What they do is what I just said, handle old business and nothing more.

[XemnasXD]

i c so the gov't will go to whoever gains the 75 seat coalition...but does the PVV have enough popularity to even gain the PM seat if they joined a coalition?

[Barotix]

Just for clarification, traditionally "right wing" in Europe would be equivalent to "left wing" in the US, right? I see a lot of Europeans call libertarians liberals, which in the US would mean "left wing" though we, Americans, consider libertarians "right wing." Ironic name "Party for Freedom" considering their very anti-freedom agenda, at least towards foreigners and Muslims.

[dom]

Paul de Leeuw voor prime minister

[BloodyBlade]

Paul de Leeuw voor prime minister

Oh god YES!

[woutR]

Just for clarification, traditionally "right wing" in Europe would be equivalent to "left wing" in the US, right? I see a lot of Europeans call libertarians liberals, which in the US would mean "left wing" though we, Americans, consider libertarians "right wing." Ironic name "Party for Freedom" considering their very anti-freedom agenda, at least towards foreigners and Muslims.

left = socialist
right = libertarian

Like communism (left) capitalism (right)

@xemnas
You don't 'join' coalitions or make them beforehand. The party with the most seats gets to negotiate with other parties to form a coalition after the elections. This process can take some time.
The PVV has a lot of support and is fluctuating between #1 and #2 party in the polls (around 28-30 seats). If they will be able to form a coalition is another question. A lot of parties have said they do not wish to rule with Wilders.
The other 'dominant' party is the CDA, which is a Christian center-right party, Balkenende's party. But after a fourth cabinet fail, I think support is dropping for CDA.

I'd like to see a CDA/D66/VVD (+another party if needed, probably CU) coalition after the elections, so I'll vote for whichever of those has the most seats in the polls.

[Starrie]

PvdA just fcks up our money, I guess nobody wants them in parliament again.
It's our labour party, but they prefer to spend way too much money, causing a debt and then needs some serious cuts.

[TheDrop]

at first i thought your cabinet made in the Netherlands fell down and you needed help fixing/cleaning the mess...

Anyways, parliamentary system of gov't nver makes sense for me

[XemnasXD]

Just for clarification, traditionally "right wing" in Europe would be equivalent to "left wing" in the US, right? I see a lot of Europeans call libertarians liberals, which in the US would mean "left wing" though we, Americans, consider libertarians "right wing." Ironic name "Party for Freedom" considering their very anti-freedom agenda, at least towards foreigners and Muslims.

left = socialist
right = libertarian

Like communism (left) capitalism (right)

@xemnas
You don't 'join' coalitions or make them beforehand. The party with the most seats gets to negotiate with other parties to form a coalition after the elections. This process can take some time.
The PVV has a lot of support and is fluctuating between #1 and #2 party in the polls (around 28-30 seats). If they will be able to form a coalition is another question. A lot of parties have said they do not wish to rule with Wilders.
The other 'dominant' party is the CDA, which is a Christian center-right party, Balkenende's party. But after a fourth cabinet fail, I think support is dropping for CDA.

I'd like to see a CDA/D66/VVD (+another party if needed, probably CU) coalition after the elections, so I'll vote for whichever of those has the most seats in the polls.

Sounds interesting alot more complicated than politics over here.

[Jstar1]

seems like other countries have idiots in the government too. At least you guys have several parties. Here in America we have politics divided into 2 polarized parties that do nothing but whine.

[Scarth]

Think this;
If Wilder got PM in the next elections, I think the best comparison would be that a KKK's wanna-be power-hungry step-brother just got a lot of power over a country.

Because he's really going on that tour lately, against anything that's foreign in our country.

That press-conference is just Farking full of complete bullshit. JP doesn't say anything which has any depth or meaning at all.

[lobokov]

Wilders will never become PM....

[Scarth]

Wilders will never become PM....

In the current state our country is in currently, I reckon anything is possible.

[Gnarly]

Wilders won't become PM. If anything weird happens and he does become PM, than i'd lose faith in the dutch people. I'm gonna vote for the SP (Social Party) or for the PvdA. Anyway, i'm very curious about what's going to happen in the next 3 months.

[Scarth]

Seeing some of the stuff that happened lately, I sense a political war for the next 3 months.

[Ownage]

Really? I can't imagine them doing a system like that, it is so easy to have a downfall. because of parties not agreeing.

[Priam]

Finally.

[XemnasXD]

Really? I can't imagine them doing a system like that, it is so easy to have a downfall. because of parties not agreeing.

The US because has a 2 party system and one party currently controls both the Administration and the Legislative bodies and they're still falling apart at the seams...a multi-party system gives people more options and stances to choose from and while it is possible for disagreements between parties to cause a fallout and a shift in gov't that sounds alot better than having a disagreement between parties halting progress of the administration indefinitely.

Think about it this way. Right now the Democrats have all the power and they're ignoring the people and sucking big time so who are you going to vote for next time, the Republicans? They'll just do the exact same thing just probably a little worse because they'll get things done, just things that don't help out the middle class. Now with their party system one party disagrees with another and the whole coalition falls apart meaning that now the people get to vote on complete shift in gov't and they actually have options to choose from that will actually run things differently, maybe not better but different at the very least. Because it seems like it would be very hard for a single party to control everything the gov't must always compromise which means that different parts with different idea must find a common ground if they hope to get anything done.

a bit more chaotic but it forces compromise which i like and it gives the people more options which i like. Also if ever there should be a disagreement essentially a mini-revolution occurs and the ruling coalition is overthrown and a new one is formed, this is essential to the gov't as it assures it never because too overpowered that it can't be stopped (like the Dems or the Reps) and it provides a better representation of the way the people are feeling which could be a good or bad thing but is essential to a representative democracy...

thats just what i've been able to gather from this and the current news reports...

[woutR]

Well just as a side note: it's not usual that a cabinet collapses after they just disagree on something. It was a very important and sensitive point, and both decided to really put their foot down ('state' elections are coming up as well, parties wanted to seem tough). Also, a really sensitive report about the Dutch role in the war in Iraq was published recently, which made the ruling parties lose trust in each other.

But on to the elections, any Dutch people here planning on voting PVV?
It's funny that the polls show PVV as #2 party, but you can't really ever find someone that votes for them. I guess it's also because you're either "with them, or against them".

[SidiousX]

But on to the elections, any Dutch people here planning on voting PVV?
It's funny that the polls show PVV as #2 party, but you can't really ever find someone that
votes for them. I guess it's also because you're either "with them, or against them".

I voted for Wilders at the European Union elections. That is because i think Wilders should have a little bit of power in the politics. Its the same in the Dutch politics. I DO NOT think Wilders should be Prime minister, but i think he should be in the opposition so he can give suggestions about changes that he thinks need to happen. The liberal parties such as SP i will never vote for. Not being a racist or anything, but there need to be less immigrants coming here.. whenever you're in public there's some foreigner not talking the language or acting like crap like most young boys from especially Morroco...
I sometimes do not feel safe in public whenever there's a large group of them, and i think there's need to be some changes with that.

But still, Wilders should never be PM coz that wud be suck lol
I think i will vote VVD these elections.

[asusi]

But on to the elections, any Dutch people here planning on voting PVV?
It's funny that the polls show PVV as #2 party, but you can't really ever find someone that
votes for them. I guess it's also because you're either "with them, or against them".

I voted for Wilders at the European Union elections. That is because i think Wilders should have a little bit of power in the politics. Its the same in the Dutch politics. I DO NOT think Wilders should be Prime minister, but i think he should be in the opposition so he can give suggestions about changes that he thinks need to happen. The liberal parties such as SP i will never vote for. Not being a racist or anything, but there need to be less immigrants coming here.. whenever you're in public there's some foreigner not talking the language or acting like crap like most young boys from especially Morroco...
I sometimes do not feel safe in public whenever there's a large group of them, and i think there's need to be some changes with that.

But still, Wilders should never be PM coz that wud be suck lol
I think i will vote VVD these elections.

Okay, let me some things clear here,
First, Wilders says he is NOT racist too, if he isn't racist then i must be Jesus. (I could bring it up so many reasons why he is RACIST)
Second, You talk about Moroccan guys? I though they were born there? or did i missed something? Wilders claims and always blames everything on Moroccans, while they are DUTCH and they are born in Holland! YOUR politicians separated them and made you and them believe they are Moroccans, stupid folk! If an some Stupid Moroccans do some shit Wilders is going RAGE! but when some non-Moroccan foreign does some shit, it's okay with Wilders, and he doesn't care. HOW come?

Wilders is piece of shit.

[woutR]

Asusi, any clarification on these alleged fake threats created by Wilders himself? I'm starting to think they don't exist.

[asusi]

Asusi, any clarification on these alleged fake threats created by Wilders himself? I'm starting to think they don't exist.

It was on newspaper Spits about year ago, i can't find it either, normally i could trace them back via site of SPits but thats on PDF file so google wont see that..