Geert Wilders, the flamboyant Islamophobe who leads the Dutch far right, today pulled his party from the governing coalition there after less than a year in power. The rift was caused by infighting over asylum applications and other immigration matters, but critics say Wilders got what he wanted and engineered his exit to trigger an election.

There was shock and anger among political leaders, many of whom pointed out that several of Wilders' demands are similar to policies already in the coalition agreement, and that they would not stand in the PVV's way to implement them. … Geert Wilders' anti-immigration, far-right PVV was the largest party. The other members – which are still technically in the coalition – are the conservative-liberal VVD, the Farmers' Citizen Movement (BBB) and the ce

See Full Page