Dissident breaks ranks with Wilders' party

For years, Geert Wilders' PVV party presented a remarkably unified front to the outside world. Now, for the first time, one of the PVV's members of parliament is openly breaking ranks.

The Party for Freedom (PVV), the Dutch right-wing populist party of the outspoken politician, Geert Wilders, has long been defined by its strict party discipline. For nearly four years, not a single representative strayed from the party line in public. Geert Wilders' control of the PVV was uncontested.

But now one of the PVV's members of parliament has come forward to challenge Geert Wilders' absolute leadership. Hero Brinkman has argued the PVV needs to adopt more democratic practices.

The PVV differs from most other Dutch parties in its organisational structure. It has no members – except for Geert Wilders. There are no party conventions where members can vote on issues and decide who will represent them. Wilders single-handedly decides who runs on the party's ticket and on what platform they will do so. Meetings where Wilders does meet with voters are off-limits to the press. Brinkman wants to change all that. "We should become a true Party for Freedom," he announced on a popular late-night talk show on Monday.

Wilders response

Geert Wilders' response so far has been surprisingly cordial. Wilders said he did not harbour any resentment against Brinkman, but did feel it would have been "more civil" if he had expressed his intention to go public with his criticism further in advance. Apparently, Brinkman only sent his party leader a text message just before Monday night's broadcast. Wilders said he would like to discuss the matter further after the national election in June.

But Wilders’ mild reaction seems to be a tactical choice aimed at quelling the problem. He had little alternative. Brinkman, ranked number 11 on the PVV's ballot [see box], a place that virtually guarantees him a seat in parliament after the upcoming election, had purposely kept his criticism to himself until he had been officially registered as a PVV candidate. If Wilders boots Brinkman from the party now, he will retain the right to his seat regardless.

Electoral lists explained In the Dutch electoral system, voters cast their ballots for individual candidates who are ranked by their parties. The total number of votes cast for all candidates on the list determines the number of seats a party gets. Commonly, this means the party will seat all the candidates ranked up to the number of seats it has won. However, if an individual candidate gains enough preference votes to guarantee his or her own seat, that candidate is seated regardless of his or her place on the list. Even if a candidate, such as Hero Brinkman, has a place high enough to guarantee him a seat, the system leaves voters with the option of sending a message, as Brinkman is asking voters to do now. It is not the first time internal party disputes spill out into general elections. In 2006, after a hard fought internal battle for leadership of the right-wing liberal VVD, leader Mark Rutte received fewer votes in the general election than runner-up Rita Verdonk.

Other PVV members of parliament were visibly annoyed by Brinkman's well-prepared move, but they had agreed not to discuss the matter openly, and refused to comment.

Wilders has always retained tight control over his party. More than anything, he wants to prevent headlines with the words "mutiny", "coup" or "rebellion" in them, and with good reason: two other young parties on the populist right (Trots op Nederland and Lijst Pim Fortuyn) were reduced to a marginal existence after they fell prey to internal discord. Geert Wilders has already quietly removed three proposed candidates from his list since its presentation, after it turned out they had some skeletons in the closet. But that is not an option now, as Brinkman broke ranks after the deadline to change the list.

On Tuesday, it became apparent just what a mess Geert Wilders has on his hands. In the corridors of parliament, Brinkman took his time to willingly answer journalists' questions, something he had recently refused to do. Ever since he was in the news for beating a bartender at a press centre in The Hague and was forced to publicly acknowledge he had a drinking problem, the once cheerful and talkative member of parliament had faded into the background. But now he was back at the centre of attention - and enjoying every minute of it - while his PVV colleagues quietly gnashed their teeth.

Brinkman's careful management of his message made his move even more remarkable. The PVV parliamentarian had even taken on a consultant to determine his media strategy. "I have been working on this for months," Brinkman said.

It is every party's worst nightmare in campaign season: a prominent member who goes against the party line. The timing is particularly bad for the PVV as it has recently been performing poorly in the polls. Once predicted to garner 30 of parliament’s 150 seats, it now looks to get only 18. Brinkman has meanwhile struck the PVV's Achilles’ heel: how can a party that bears the word "freedom" in its name be so undemocratic?

'I don't care what people think'

In 2008, in an interview with NRC Handelsblad, Wilders said he had no intention of altering his party's structure. He was and would remain the only member of the PVV. When asked who would determine who would lead the party, he answered: "I will. If that sounds undemocratic, too bad. We do not have members. We do not have an organisational structure, and that is not about to change. I decide who our candidates are. […] I don't care what people think." Wilders has also said other parties are democratic only on paper anyway.

Hero Brinkman has announced he will continue his mission in weeks to come by seeking preference votes. He has called on everyone who wants the PVV to become more democratic to vote for him personally. [see box] "I will respond to all invitations for debate," Brinkman said. According to him, he has a lot of young supporters for his cause. "We are very popular amongst the youth. This is why I want to establish a youth wing. We should try to get young people to commit to us, so people can still vote PVV 50 years from now."

Of the eight parliamentarians currently seated besides Wilders, Brinkman has the lowest ranking on Wilders' new electoral list. This was a surprise to many, as Brinkman was the PVV representative who drew the most public attention --apart from Wilders-- since the party entered parliament in 2006.

Insiders have said his relationship with Wilders is less than perfect, though. Wilders was not amused that Brinkman drew controversy twice: once in September 2009 when he attacked the aforementioned bartender, and again in March 2010, when his building contractor accused him of assault. The incidents seemed to explain his low placement on the PVV's electoral list. According to Brinkman, however, Wilders ranked him so low because he had occasionally broken ranks with his parliamentary colleagues and had taken certain liberties in his media contacts. "I have broken some agreements," he said. Still, Brinkman claimed his low placement was not the reason he decided to go public with his critical message. "I am very proud of Wilders. But I also believe many in the PVV want this and that it would benefit the party," he said.

Three months ago, the PVV was the largest party in the polls and Wilders was seen as a potential prime minister. Today, the election campaign has centred on economic issues and Job Cohen (Labour) and Mark Rutte (right-wing liberal VVD) have taken centre stage. After three years of prosperity, Geert Wilders no longer seems untouchable. Already reduced to an electoral sideshow, Wilders' now faces mutiny within his own ranks.