Dutch journalists and politicians should stop calling Geert Wilders’ political party the PVV a populist party because it has all the hallmarks of an extreme-right wing group, says René Danen, the head of the Dutch anti-racist group Nederland Bekent Kleur, in the NRC.

‘The PVV wants to close the borders to people who belong to one particular religion, and ban the houses of worship and schools for one population group,’ Danen wrote in an article.
‘Wilders once told De Limburger newspaper that he wants to ‘tear down the mosques’. He told HP/De Tijd newsweekly that ‘it is okay for the Netherlands to have Jewish and Christian school but not Islamic schools’. In other words: pure discrimination,’ Danen said.
Wilders is also anti-democratic, Danen argues, pointing out that he is the only member of the PVV. ‘PVV MPs are not elected by the party but appointed by Wilders himself. The PVV meets behind closed doors in meetings where no one has the right to vote. So the main defining characteristics of an extreme-right party – nationalist, anti-democratic and racist – are all found in the PVV,’ Danen says.
Economic policy
The PVV also came under fire in parliament during a debate on the economy on Wednesday with MPs quick to argue that the party’s economic plans would be disastrous, the Parool reports.
The paper says financial spokesman Tony van Dijck confirmed that the PVV wants to abolish corporate subsidies.
But he said, the party no longer wanted to abolish the minimum wage. ‘You recently voted against a minimum wage for postal delivery workers, so something has obviously changed,’ Socialist party leader Agnes Kant pointed out.