“Dutch Trump” wins in a landslide, “far-right storm” becomes a global trend, and 2024 could be “the year liberalism collapses” around the world | JBpress

2024 could be the year when liberalism collapses around the world

(International journalist Masato Kimura)

2024 is the biggest election year in history

[LONDON]In 2024, elections will be held in 76 countries, home to more than 4 billion people, more than half of the world’s population. Presidential elections in the United States and Russia, European Parliament elections in the European Union (EU), general elections in India, Indonesia, and Mexico, and nationwide local elections in Brazil and Turkey… The British magazine The Economist (November 13) points out, “2024 will be the biggest election year in history.”

And there are signs that a “far-right” storm is brewing all over the world.

Although many countries lack the prerequisites for democracy, such as freedom of speech and association, the Netherlands is one of the most mature liberal democracies, ranked 9th in the Economist Intelligence Unit’s Democracy Index (2022 edition). A drastic change occurred in the general election. The Freedom Party (PVV), led by Geert Wilders, a far-right populist who advocates the prevention of refugees and immigration, achieved a historic victory.

Pippa Norris, a lecturer in comparative politics at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, posted this on X (formerly Twitter):

“Those who claim that Wilders is the ‘Dutch Donald Trump’ are getting history wrong. Wilders founded the PVV in 2006, nine years before Trump descended the golden escalator in 2015. Trump is America’s Wilderness.”

In January 2008, socialists held a demonstration in Amsterdam against the far-right extremist Wilders. There was a commotion that led to arrests (Photo: AFLO)

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