A Crisis of Conscience: Dutch Voters ‘Looking for a Savior’
NEED TO KNOW
A Crisis of Conscience: Dutch Voters ‘Looking for a Savior’
NETHERLANDS
The Dutch Data Protection Authority recently warned voters not to use artificial intelligence for advice on how to cast their ballots in the Oct. 29 parliamentary elections.
The Authority’s researchers found that AI chatbots were biased toward extremism, suggesting voters support either the far-right Freedom party or the left-wing GreenLeft–Labor alliance, reported Agence France-Presse. AI chatbots failed to mention moderate parties “even when the user’s input exactly matches the positions of one of these parties,” the researchers said.
The AI chatbots appeared to be reflecting the tensions rising throughout the Western European country as the elections draw near.
Wilders, who caused the Dutch coalition government to collapse when he left it in June after his colleagues rejected his proposal to crack down on migration from the Middle East and elsewhere, is now leading in the polls, wrote the Robert Schuman Foundation. Wilders’ party won first place in the 2023 elections, too, but other lawmakers rejected his bid to become prime minister.
The center-right Christian Democratic Appeal is forecast to come second. GreenLeft–Labor is running third.
Observers at Reuters described the election as a test of whether voters would support Wilders’ tough stance on migration – at a time when right-wing parties are surging in the United Kingdom, France, and Germany – or turn toward more centrist parties that would prefer less radical approaches on foreigners in the country.
The energy is behind Wilders. On Oct. 14, for instance, 300 demonstrators assembled at Houten town hall to voice their opposition to a 337-person asylum shelter in the municipality, the European Conservative reported.
Some say Wilders’ growing support is democracy in action, while others worry that momentum is threatening the country’s democracy.
“The Netherlands has seen an alarmingly rapid normalization of far-right rhetoric,” argued researcher Leonie de Jonge and PhD candidate Esmee Bakker at the University of Tübingen Institute for Research on Far-Right Extremism in the Conversation. “This election may prove more than just another chapter in political instability, but a defining moment for the country’s democratic future.”
In a sign of how things could change dramatically, many of Wilders’ and other far-right political parties’ proposals would violate Dutch law, added Euronews, citing a report by the Dutch Bar Association.
Still, Wilders’ opponents appear divided. GreenLeft leader Frans Timmermans, a former vice-president of the European Commission responsible for climate action, was a top contender to become prime minister. Now, however, the Christian Democratic Appeal’s Henri Bontenbal is surging as the preeminent Wilders’ alternative, and the likely pick for the next prime minister.
Part of that reason is, as a recent survey found, that only 6 percent of Dutch people polled still trust politics. As a result, voters in the country are looking for a savior, someone to restore a sense of normalcy and trust, the old spirit of compromise that characterized Dutch politics for so long, wrote World Politics Review.
“The country is experiencing a nationwide crisis of confidence,” it said. “Against that backdrop, many are searching for a vessel in which to place their hopes: someone to restore a sense of normalcy and trust. This time it is Bontenbal.”
THE WORLD, BRIEFLY
Sudan’s Army Withdraws from Darfur Stronghold, Amid Reports of Mass Atrocities
SUDAN
The Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) have withdrawn from the city of el-Fasher, their last stronghold in Darfur, amid reports of mounting ethnically motivated mass killings by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), whose takeover marks a major turning point in Sudan’s 18-month civil war, raising fears that the country will split apart, Al Jazeera reported.
Army chief Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan announced late Monday that his troops had retreated “to spare civilians” after what he called the “systemic killing” by the RSF.
The retreat followed days of intense fighting that left el-Fasher, a city of more than a quarter of a million people, under RSF control. Humanitarian groups reported the looting of hospitals, civilians detained or executed, and thousands fleeing toward nearby towns.
Satellite analysis by Yale University’s Humanitarian Research Lab indicated evidence consistent with large-scale killings by RSF fighters following their capture of the city, the Guardian wrote.
The United Nations Human Rights Office said it had received “multiple alarming reports” of summary executions of civilians, particularly those belonging to non-Arab communities. The Joint Forces – who are allied with the SAF – accused the RSF of executing more than 2,000 unarmed civilians over the weekend, a figure that could not be independently verified.
The RSF – a paramilitary group that grew out of the Janjaweed militias accused of atrocities in Darfur two decades ago – said it had “liberated” the city from “mercenaries and militias.”
African Union Commission chairperson Mahmoud Ali Youssouf condemned the “atrocities” and urged an immediate ceasefire and humanitarian access, Agence France-Presse added.
The army’s retreat marks a turning point in the conflict between the military and RSF that began in April 2023 following a power struggle between Burhan and RSF commander, Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo.
The war has since killed more than 150,000 people, displaced nearly 12 million, and plunged parts of Sudan into famine. Both sides have been accused of committing war crimes and other atrocities – allegations both sides have rejected.
Observers noted that the army’s withdrawal leaves the RSF in control of all five state capitals of the Darfur region, effectively excluding the SAF from a third of Sudanese territory and cementing the paramilitary group’s parallel administration in Nyala, the capital of South Darfur.
With Darfur now effectively under RSF rule and the army confined to the north, east, and center of the country, analysts and officials cautioned that the situation has revived fears of a national breakup reminiscent of South Sudan’s secession in 2011.
That split followed decades of civil war and left Sudan permanently weakened, both politically and economically.
Guatemala’s President Accuses Attorney General and Judge of Leading ‘Coup’ Attempt
GUATEMALA
Guatemalan President Bernardo Arévalo accused the country’s attorney general and a top judge of orchestrating an attempted “coup” to overturn the results of the 2023 elections, while leading a “criminal alliance” seeking to dismantle the country’s democratic order, MercoPress reported.
In a Sunday address, Arévalo said the Attorney General Consuelo Porras and Judge Fredy Orellana were trying to “plunge Guatemala into authoritarianism, corruption, and impunity” by annulling his Movimiento Semilla party and removing elected officials.
He alleged that Orellana, acting on behalf of Porras, was attempting to void the registration of Semilla and trigger the “unconstitutional removal” of the president, vice president, 23 deputies, and a number of mayors.
The president’s remarks came after Orellana ruled Friday to suspend all actions related to Semilla, citing alleged irregularities in its registration as a political organization.
The decision was sent to the Supreme Electoral Tribunal and Congress, instructing lawmakers to take “the measures required by law,” United Press International noted.
Arévalo called the ruling a “judicial coup” designed to erase the will of voters and “bury the possibility of free, transparent and fair elections in 2027.”
Arévalo has long accused Porras and Orellana of using the judicial system to persecute journalists, activists, and indigenous leaders, while attempting to protect political allies involved in corruption, drug trafficking, and organized crime in the Central American country.
The president said he has requested an emergency meeting of the Permanent Council of the Organization of American States (OAS) to brief it on the “serious threats” to Guatemala’s Constitution and democracy.
The OAS later called for “respect for the will of the Guatemalan people,” who elected Arévalo in an election deemed free and fair.
Meanwhile, the Attorney General’s Office rejected Arévalo’s accusations as “false,” saying that “no political pressure will stop the ongoing investigations.”
Even so, Porras remains a controversial figure in Guatemala since she took office in 2018: She has been sanctioned by the United States and the European Union for undermining democracy and anti-graft probes.
Porras cannot be removed by the president before her term ends in 2026.
However, Arévalo has since introduced legislation to reform Guatemala’s judicial selection system and strengthen the independence of its governmental institutions.
Still, analysts say the moves by the attorney general and the judge are in line with what has faced the current administration since Arévalo won office in a shock victory against an establishment candidate more than two years ago: The powerful political, military, criminal, and business groups that previously controlled the country have done everything they can to thwart his presidency, including attempting to keep him out of office.
Opposition Rejects Incumbent’s Re-Election, Raising Fears of More Election Unrest
CAMEROON
Cameroon’s opposition leaders this week rejected the results of the Oct. 12 presidential election that extended President Paul Biya’s four-decade rule, setting the stage for potential post-election unrest in a country already battling a separatist conflict, Reuters reported Tuesday.
On Monday, the country’s constitutional council declared Biya, 92, as the winner with more than 53 percent of the vote. The announcement followed the council’s dismissal of eight petitions alleging electoral fraud, including ballot stuffing.
The council’s ruling is final and cannot be appealed, with observers saying they expect more violence to break out.
Sporadic protests erupted nationwide ahead of the official results and turned violent over the weekend. Supporters of the main opposition leader, Issa Tchiroma Bakary, clashed with police and blocked roads in the commercial capital, Douala.
At least six people were killed during demonstrations on Sunday and Monday, according to the opposition. On Tuesday, Cameroonian authorities vowed legal action against Tchiroma, accusing him of fomenting the unrest, the Turkish state-run Anadolu Agency reported.
Tchiroma and other opposition candidates have rejected the vote’s outcome and accused the constitutional council of being “nothing more than the rubber stamp of a tyranny.”
Former presidential candidate Akere Muna pointed to suspiciously high turnout figures in Cameroon’s English-speaking regions – where a separatist insurgency has raged since 2017 – as evidence of manipulation.
The European Union expressed “deep concern” about the polls, the unrest, and the police crackdown on protests.
Meanwhile, Tchiroma has urged his supporters at home and abroad to march peacefully to “liberate Cameroon.” He previously declared himself the winner and published a tally on social media showing he won around 55 percent of the vote, based on what he claimed were returns representing 80 percent of the electorate, according to the BBC.
Tchiroma warned that he would not accept any other outcome.
Biya and government officials have repeatedly rejected the allegations of fraud, while also dismissing Tchiroma’s claims as illegal because only the constitutional council can proclaim official results.
Biya, one of the world’s longest-serving leaders, has ruled Cameroon since 1982. If he finishes this eighth term, which ends in 2032, he will be almost 100 years old.
DISCOVERIES
The Two-faced Moon
The far side of the Moon, mostly never seen from Earth, looks very different from the face shining through the night sky. Now, a new study found that it might be colder, too.
“The near side and far side of the moon are very different at the surface and potentially in the interior,” study author Yang Li said in a statement. “It is one of the great mysteries of the moon. We call it the two-faced moon.”
The far side has a thicker crust, more mountains and craters, and fewer dark basalt areas formed by volcanic activity.
“A dramatic difference in temperature between the near and far side of the mantle has long been hypothesized, but our study provides the first evidence using real samples,” said Li.
Researchers examined about 10.6 ounces of rock and soil collected last year from a vast crater on the far side of the moon by China’s Chang’e 6 spacecraft – the first ever sample to be collected on that side. They confirmed previous findings that it was about 2.8 billion years old.
The team studied the sample’s mineral composition and compared it with computer simulations to estimate how hot it was when it crystallized from molten lava to basalt billions of years ago. They estimated it formed at roughly 2,012 degrees Fahrenheit, which is about 180 degrees cooler than estimated for samples collected from the near side of the Moon.
“These findings take us a step closer to understanding the two faces of the moon,” study author Xuelin Zhu said in the statement. “They show us that the differences between the near and far side are not only at the surface but go deep into the interior.”
The team also determined that the “parent rock” – the original material that melted into magma to then solidify into the sample collected by Chang’ – also did so at a temperature about 180 degrees Fahrenheit lower compared with near-side rocks.
Researchers said this difference in temperature between the Moon’s faces might be due to an uneven distribution of heat-producing elements – such as uranium, thorium, and potassium – which release heat due to radioactive decay in the Moon’s mantle.
While scientists do not know the exact temperature of the far and near sides of the Moon’s mantle, any imbalance between the two will likely persist for a long time, as the Moon has been cooling down very slowly since it formed from a catastrophic impact. Meanwhile, the team is working on finding the precise temperatures.