ABSTRACT
There have always been political parties dominated to a large degree by their leader. Examples include Charles de Gaulle’s Rassemblement du Peuple Français, Henry Ross Perot’s Reform Party and Silvio Berlusconi’s Forza Italia. But there is probably no other party so intrinsically linked with its leader as Geert Wilders’ Party for Freedom. Not only is Wilders the founder, chairman, leading candidate and figurehead of the party, he is officially its only member. In a legal and literal sense, this makes the PVV a one-man party. It follows that any history of the PVV necessarily begins with a sketch of Geert Wilders’ background and personality. Who is he? What drives him? Where did he come from? Why did he go into politics? What made him found the PVV? Wilders’ background has been the subject of thorough research through the years. There are two biographies of him, as well as various documentaries and numerous profiles in newspapers and magazines, and the PVV leader has spoken openly about his childhood, youth and inspirations in several interviews. On top of that, Wilders published two autobiographical books while still in his forties, Kies voor Vrijheid (Choose Freedom, 2005) and Marked for Death (2012). Questions about his personality and motivations are not easy to answer at a distance without running a real risk of resorting to amateur psychology. I was, however, able to draw on various published statements and interviews given by acquaintances of Wilders to get an idea of the impression he made on his environment, and find recurring patterns. I gained an even clearer image of Wilders by incorporating specific historical and social contexts into the story.
