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Mr Wilders gives interview for Dutch Magazine (excerpt)Reader comment on item: Western Civilization on Trial: Why We Should Be Watching Geert Wilders Submitted by Charles (Netherlands), Feb 12, 2010 at 14:42 Interview with Mr. Wilders in Nieuwe Revu magazine. Q: Mr Wilders, Which party would you rule out after the coming elections? A: "In principle, we do not rule anyone out. I have said I sometimes find Green-Left (Groen Links) almost unthinkable, because they said that the Dutch culture does not exist! It is obvious that after the elections we will mark the parties who did not exclude us beforehand: the VVD (Liberals), the CDA (Christian Democrats) and Ms Verdonk (popular movement). The CU (Christian Union) is undecided right now and from the SGP (Orthodox Protestants) I have not heard anything up till now". Q: You do not rule out D66 (Left Liberals) and it's party leader Alexander Pechtold, despite that he has openly offended you by calling you an extreme right politician and a racist. It is still fairly unlikely that you will form a coalition with him, is it not? A: "You need not to be an Einstein or a political analyst with 20 years experience to calculate the probability that D66 could join my PVV in a new cabinet. I consider this possibility very remote if not negligible. But I'm not the type to exclude anybody beforehand". Q: Would you like to become prime minister? A:"If one becomes the largest party in this country, one receives the right to offer the candidate for the post of prime minister. It is ofcourse possible in the Netherlands to be pushed aside as other parties try to form a government without the largest party. To be perfectly clear on this: I would be honoured to hold the position. But only because through it, I could make important changes. Not because I so desperately want to sit in that seat. I do not." Q: On June 1, 2008 you summarized in a speech in Denmark six demands: 1) a ban on immigration from muslim countries, 2) voluntary repatriation to muslim countries, 3) an absolute stop of building new mosques, 4) a ban on the Koran, 5) the closure of Islamic schools and 6) a introduction of a nationwide regauging in the teachings on our Dutch history. Which of these can a new Wilders-government guarantee? A: "That depends on who will govern with us. We will have to make some compromises. We shall have to make some concessions. I am not saying beforehand on what issues we will ofcourse." Q: So you say, everything is negotiable? A: "The endresult is decisive. Always. If nothing is negotiable, you might as well stay away from the coalition negotiations. I think our voters like to see some changes in the Netherlands. They understand that we will have to bend here and there, but I would not be worth the paper my name is written on if government-only is a means to a goal." Q: That's not such a strong stance. You've been very hard in recent years in presenting your views and still you can not guarantee anything? A: "If I don't take responsibility for my actions, I could say to voters right now: the PVV is always going to stay safely in the opposition. Then we don't need to negotiate with anyone. But we are not like the SP (far left Socialist Party), who are always screaming from the isles and ultimately never want to join the government. If we get our way on important issues, we want to govern allright. Indeed, we are even ready to support a minority government like they do in Denmark. It is not about getting high and mighty in government circles. It does not interest me one bit how many PVV secretaries we have. It has to serve a purpose. Always. Namely, to influence a definite policy change. Thats what we are all about. But if we have to give in too much on our core policies, we will say: no way! Then we will step down and join the oppositionranks again and attack the new government even more feriously as before." Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments". << Previous Comment Next Comment >> Reader comments (60) on this item
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