Far-right leaders have taken power in Argentina and the Netherlands within days of each other this week.
Javier Milei – a politician likened to Donald Trump and former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro – became Argentina’s president after securing a majority of votes against the incumbent government.
In Europe, Geert Wilders and his far-right Freedom Party won the most seats in the Netherlands election. He will need support from other parties to form government.
Argentina
Argentinians vote in a presidential election every four years. The incumbent, Alberto Fernández, had been president since 2019 and chose not to seek re-election.
Milei defeated Argentina’s Economy Minister Sergio Massa in a vote on Sunday (local time). He will start his term on 10 December.
Javier Milei
Milei was elected as a member of Argentina’s National Congress in 2021. He is an economist and founded the party La Libertad Avanza (Liberty Advances) ahead of his successful election to Congress.
Milei has promised a drastic agenda to address the dire economic situation in Argentina.
Policies
The inflation rate is currently at 143%, with further rises on the horizon. They owe over $US31 billion to the International Monetary Fund — the highest amount owed by any one country.
Milei has proposed converting the national currency to the U.S. dollar, and abolishing Argentina’s central bank.
He also opposes abortion and supports relaxing the country’s gun laws.
The Netherlands
The Netherlands has 150 seats in the House of Representatives, where the government is formed. It’s common for no party to win a majority of seats.
The Netherlands has been led by Prime Minister Mark Rutte since 2010. He announced his retirement from politics following this month’s election, which was triggered by the collapse of his coalition government.
Geert Wilders
Wilders has been in the Dutch Parliament since 1998. He is the leader of his Freedom Party, which won the most seats of any party at Wednesday’s national election.
The party is expected to hold about 37 seats in the House of Reps. This places Wilders in a strong position to become Prime Minister, but he’ll need support from other minor parties to form government.
The path forward
Wilders gained notoriety in the Netherlands for his outspoken anti-Islamic and migration views. He believes that halting migration could help solve social problems within the Netherlands.
He has also strongly supported leaving the European Union (EU).
Wilders will need support from several other parties to control a majority of seats in Parliament. He will likely need to make some policy concessions to guarantee support.
