"Refugees welcome, Racism is Not" demonstration on February 6, 2016 at Dokwerker square in Amsterdam, Nethelands.Paulo Amorim/Press Association.All rights reserved.The emergence of Denk (Think), the pro-immigrant party, has caused quite the stir in Holland’s political debates. Even though the party is not expected to win more than two seats in the upcoming March 15 election, they have received consistent media attention, much of it critical.
The party has claimed media bias, stating that other parties do not receive nearly the same amount of scrutiny. Yet, even if this were true, repeating this claim will inevitably weaken them. While populist parties have been thriving on calling out the media as a public enemy, Think only give their right-wing counterparts – most notably the populist The Party of Freedom – more power if they persist in such a strategy. Its attempt at an anti-establishment stance will only push voters in the other direction and further the polemic strain coursing through Dutch political discourse. This anti-establishment posture does not belong to them: it has been claimed by the euro-skeptic populists and for the time being, this will not be overthrown.
Even worse, its ongoing partisanship has only strengthened the Party of Freedom’s claim that a foreign Islamic force is trying to undermine their liberal values. In a time when a strong liberal voice is needed to combat the false narrative of populism, Think has unfortunately only confirmed their legitimacy. Started by Tunahan Kuzu and Selçuk Öztürk, two deserters from the Parti van der Arbeit (PVDA), due to their disagreement with its integration policy, increasing controversies have surrounded this breakaway, beginning with Kuzu’s refusal to condemn Erdogan’s regime, refusing to acknowledge the Armenian Genocide and refusing to shake Netanyahu’s hand. The latest brouhaha was over their use of internet bots to counter dissenting Facebook commentators.
