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The next Dutch government spearheaded by anti-Islam firebrand Geert Wilders hasn’t installed itself yet, but scandal has its own timeline.
Wilders on Thursday abruptly retracted his nominee for the positions of deputy prime minister and migration minister, Gidi Markuszower, over security concerns, leaving Dutch parliamentarians wondering whether there is a threat in their midst. The security concerns were flagged after a background screening by the Dutch intelligence service AIVD.
For years, Markuszower has been a loyal foot soldier for Wilders in the Dutch parliament. But his inclusion among Wilders’ Freedom Party (PVV) picks for a top position in the Netherlands’ next coalition government was seen by many as a reckless move.
Markuszower is known for his provocative statements, even by the radical right PVV’ s standards. Last year he warned the Dutch parliament that “the African jungle” was coming to the Netherlands “en masse.”
It is not the first time that security suspicions have interfered with Markuszower’s career. In 2010, he backed out from running for parliament after an AIVD screening tied him to Israel’s Mossad, according to media reports. But that did not stop him from joining the upper house of parliament in 2015, and two years later the lower house. It is also well known that he was once detained by police for carrying a weapon, though this did not result in charges.
That track record appeared not to faze Wilders when he put forward Markuszower as his top representative in the next Dutch Cabinet earlier this week, in which he himself will not have a formal role but over which he will wield considerable influence.
But the AIVD background check, part of the protocol before new appointees can be confirmed by the parliament, seems to now have unearthed something serious enough for Wilders to do a double take.
“The content of the background check was the reason for me to withdraw his candidature,” Wilders wrote on X Thursday, without giving further details. He added that the post would be going to another PVV politician, Marjolein Faber, instead.
A day later, everyone seems confused — including Markuszower himself, who claims not to have received a reason for being dumped and rejected the idea he should resign from parliament.
“It feels Kafkaesque,” Markuszower told RTL television channel. “Your average terrorist seems to have more rights than a politician with a vocal opinion.” Markuszower did not respond to a request for comment from POLITICO.
Amid uncertainty over the extent and results of the AIVD screening, some of his fellow parliamentarians are saying they do not understand why someone who could supposedly fail a security test could remain in parliament, with Dutch politician Stephan van Baarle labeling Markuszower a “potential threat” to governance.
Wilders’ political nemesis, leader of the GreenLeft-Labor alliance Frans Timmermans, has described the fracas around Markuszower as part of a pattern of “gaffe upon gaffe upon gaffe” by Wilders since he won the Dutch election in November last year.
On social media, Wilders retorted that at least his party made “corrections where needed.”
But in an ominous sign for the PVV leader, one of his coalition partners, Dilan Yeşilgöz of the liberal VVD party, on Friday told Dutch media that she also had “concerns” over the new appointment, Faber. Dutch public broadcaster NOS reported that a crisis meeting has been called for the leaders of the four governing parties for later Friday.
After the security screenings, all the ministerial candidates are set to face parliament in confirmation hearings before visiting the Dutch King — and then, hopefully, getting to work.
