Mehdi Koc, a 41-year-old insulation installer, said he was shocked by the swing to the PVV, while Taheri said the vote sent different messages to Muslims, although the overwhelming emotion was of disappointment.
“In part, the message is that many people are xenophobic and don’t want foreigners or Muslims. But another message is that people are very disappointed in 13 years of Rutte,” he said.
However, Taheri, a member of the Labour party, said he could not really separate that from all the “nasty things” Wilders had said about banning headscarves and closing mosques.
After his surprise win, Wilders said he wanted to be prime minister for all Dutch people, but that appeared to do little to assuage concerns about what he might do later.
“If you say yes to Wilders now, then you will have to say yes later when he closes down all the mosques because then you cannot go back,” Koc said, warning that Wilders will not lose sight of his eventual goals.
Some in the Netherlands think that the Dutch system of coalition government means Wilders will have to compromise on his most radical views, as political analysts also predict.
“He will not make the laws alone (other parties) will join and they have to cooperate,” Kemal Yildiz, 54, said.
“It will be fine,” Yildiz added.
Source: CNA
