[R-G] Return of the Far Right

[Anthony Fenton]

http://thetyee.ca/News/2009/03/13/RightReturns/

News
Today: Friday, March 13, 2009
Return of the Far Right
Islamist foe Geert Wilders, top of the Dutch heap.
Global downturn drives new rise of ultra-con parties.
By Mario Canseco
Published: March 13, 2009

TheTyee.ca

Last month, the Party for Freedom (PvdV) climbed to the top of the  
political ladder in the Netherlands. If only for a few days, the far- 
right political organization could claim to be the most popular party  
in a Western European nation. Its leader, Geert Wilders, has been both  
praised and criticized for his views on Turkey's accession to the  
European Union (EU), the influence of Islam in Dutch life, and a  
controversial movie titled Fitna, which compares the Koran to Adolf  
Hitler's Mein Kampf.

For months, the Party for Freedom was regarded as nothing more than a  
fringe party. Staunchly nationalistic Dutch voters were supposed to  
back a movement called Proud of the Netherlands (ToN), which was  
founded by former immigration minister Rita Verdonk and aspired to  
play a role in a future coalition government. Now, as the Party for  
Freedom surpasses the governing Christian-Democratic Appeal (CDA),  
Proud of the Netherlands is at the bottom of the pack, tied with the  
Party for the Animals (PvdD).

The startling development in Dutch politics reminds political  
observers of the biggest success by a far-right party in Europe: Jean  
Marie Le Pen's participation in the second round of France's  
presidential election in 2002. Le Pen's platform was based on tying  
France's unemployment woes with multiculturalism, and was aided by the  
lacklustre effort of Socialist Party (PS) candidate Lionel Jospin. In  
the end, Jacques Chirac earned a new term, and Le Pen barely surpassed  
the 10 per cent mark in the 2007 ballot.

Now, the global economic slowdown is once again allowing some European  
parties to expedite calls for immigration controls.

On the attack in Bulgaria

In Bulgaria, the ultra-nationalist Ataka (Attack) party sits in fourth  
place on most voting intention surveys, with enough support to play a  
role in a coalition government later this year.

Still, Ataka leader Voden Siderov will not cooperate with the most  
popular party in the country, the Citizens for European Development of  
Bulgaria (GERB). Siderov claims that GERB wants Bulgaria "to be a  
Latin American country with five per cent rich people and 90 per cent  
poor people."
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Austria, which held a federal election last year, saw the re-birth of  
the Freedom Party of Austria (FPO). During the campaign, FPO leader  
Heinz-Christian Strache accused the governing Social-Democratic Party  
of Austria (SPO) of pandering to minorities, saying, "If you want an  
apartment, all you need is to be wearing a headscarf."

Norway, which will hold an election in September, could see a very  
close race between the governing centre-left three-party coalition and  
a prospective alliance that would encompass the Conservatives (H) and  
the far-right Progress Party (FrP).

FrP leader Siv Jensen has accused the current administration -- headed  
by Labour Party (DNA) leader Jens Stoltenberg -- of allowing Norway to  
undergo "a subtle islamification." Support for Jensen's party has  
grown at the expense of the Conservatives and the centre-right  
Christian People (KrF), but it might not be enough to force a change  
in government.

Hungary, where polls point to the end of Ferenc Gyurcsany's Socialist  
government as soon as an election takes place, the Movement For The  
Better Hungary (Jobbik) has ascended into third or fourth place in  
some surveys.

Jobbik has established a "Hungarian Guard" to defend the country  
"physically, morally and mentally." While a victory for the opposition  
Hungarian Citizens Party (Fidesz) is widely expected, the rise of  
Jobbik -- a right-wing party closely tied with a paramilitary  
organization -- will create concerns, particularly on issues such as  
the treatment of minorities.

Israel: Whacking 'wimps'

Outside Europe, other parties have also appealed for radical changes  
in immigration. Israel Our Home finished in third place in the most  
recent election to the Knesset, overtaking traditionally strong  
parties such as Labour and the International Organization of Torah- 
observant Sephardic Jews (Shas) and going from fringe to key ally.

Israel Our Home leader Avigdor Lieberman was, by far, the most  
outspoken leader of the campaign, referring to the sitting government  
-- which he briefly buttressed -- as "made up of wimps" and proposing  
to establish an oath that would force all residents, including Arabs,  
to declare their loyalty to "the Jewish state."

Other countries do not face similar scenarios. In Denmark, the Danish  
People's Party (DF) has lost ground, even in the face of scandals --  
such as the Mohammed cartoon controversy -- that could have boosted  
its numbers.

The Sweden Democrats (SD) have flirted with the possibility of winning  
a seat in the legislature, but Swedish voters are not flocking to the  
party at this stage.

The British National Party (BNP) is committed to "reversing the tide  
of non-white immigration" to the United Kingdom. It has never elected  
a member of parliament, but saw its share of the vote go 47,000 voters  
in 2001 to more than 190,000 in 2005.

Hard-line Greens

Still, the most surprising twist to far-right policies came in Mexico.  
The Green Environmentalist Party (PVEM) has spent most of its campaign  
funds in billboard ads that call for the death penalty for people  
convicted of murder or kidnapping. This places Mexico's Greens as the  
only party in the world that advocates for both the preservation of  
animal life, and the elimination of human life.