The Dutch Elections 2006
So, today were the elections in the Netherlands and as i write this (yes of course I have voted) the votes are still counted. As Crooked Timber notes these elections might not be extremely important for the rest of the world, but there are some interesting aspects. Remarkable is that the theme of integration and religion (read Islam) was almost completely absent in the campaign. Nevermind the plans for banning the burqa, the tsunami of islamization and the comparison of the islamization with the emergence of the nazi-threat before WW II; these were just incidents and certainly not a sign of a consistent thread in the campaign.
At that after years in which the sense of self- identity clashed with the hardest edge of its Muslim population than in any other country in Europe. After 9/11, the Netherlands has lived through a populist revolt against the perceived problems caused by Islamic immigration led by Pim Fortuyn, (murdered by an animal rights activist); the murder of the filmmaker Theo Van Gogh, accused of blasphemy by a homegrown Muslim fundamentalist killer; and the departure from the Netherlands of Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a Somali woman who became a member of Parliament before being marked for death for her criticism of radical Islam.
The true change in this period is not that the the Dutch paradigm on the integration of its Arab and Turkish immigrant population (about 6 percent of a total of 16 million) has gone from one of accommodation to an emphasis on requiring compatibility from resident Muslims. There has always been discussion about that and it was certainly the main theme in government policies since 1994. Already in the 1980s it was established that the basis for living in the Netherlands has been defined as accepting the primacy of the Constitution, practical standards of engagement in society such as Dutch language competence, and the plain old cohesive value of work. Already in 1989 the government and several advisory boards maintained that there were limits with regard to social cohesion when it comes to allowing ethnic, cultural and religious diversity. The paradigm of integration with keeping your own culture and identity was abandoned in 1989 and 1994. However at the local level most of the old multicultural policies remained with all their positive points but also with its flaws and also it proved to be very difficult the tackle several issues that involved migrants in the public sphere. The Fortuyn revolt certainly has changed that and after his death the mainstream political parties (in particular the christian-democrats with PM Balkenende and the liberals with Hirsi Ali and Verdonk) have adopted several of his ideas. This probably means that issues concerning migration and islam are now part of the Dutch consensus and power structures; adressing this problem does no longer affect the consensus and power structures.
This is no reason however to sit back and relax. The extraordinary achievement of Wilders in these elections proves that for many people issues with regard to Islam are certainly not solved. Combined with the even more extradordinary result of the SP, socialists, that has become the third party of the country (after the christian-democrats and the social-democrats) also shows that the anti-establishment revolt of Fortuyn has not completely faded. The confusing aspect is then that the christian-democrats still are the largest in this country. This might reflect the attitude of some people that although they may agree with many points of Wilders and/or the SP, they don’t want populists and people they regard as extremists.
And indeed many issues are not solved but will only become more important in the coming years. Many of the Muslim youth see the traditional Muslim organizations as institutions that have sold themselves to the Dutch, professional-migrants and so on. This are people that are born and raised in the Netherlands and have gained public and political awareness in a time that Islam in the public sphere was in the center of everyones attention. The growing assertiveness, also evidenced by increasing numbers of migrants who vote, will increase their visibility in public life. Also the theme of religion, in general, in the public sphere in a country that increasingly sees secularism as the norm, will most likely remain in the coming years. This means that the themes that are hardly debated in the campaign, are the most interesting for other countries.
More blogs on the Dutch Elections: Peaktalk, OneWayStreet, KleinVerzet, Wis[s]e Words: ceci n’est past un blog, Sierra le oli, The Moderate Voice and European Tribune.