Dutch far-right party wins pledge on burqa ban

Geert Wilders's Freedom party has pivotal role supporting coalition
committed to crackdown on immigration

Ian Traynor in Brussels
Saturday October 2 2010
guardian.co.uk


http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/oct/01/dutch-far-right-burqa-ban


Geert Wilders, the maverick Dutch anti-Islam campaigner, has emerged
triumphant as the linchpin of a new rightwing minority government
pledged to banning the burqa in the Netherlands, cracking down on
immigration, strengthening the police and slashing public spending.

Almost 16 weeks after a general election in which Wilders' Freedom
party almost tripled its vote [http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/
jun/10/netherlands-election-coalition-islam" title="] but from which
there was no clear winner, Liberals and Christian Democrats in the the
Netherlands agreed a minority coalition pact supported in parliament
in The Hague by Wilders's 24 seats.

The deal could still come unstuck this weekend, with many Christian
Democrats uneasy about forming a coalition a man who goes on trial on
Monday in Amsterdam on charges of hate speech and inciting racism.

The Christian Democrats are to hold a party congress tomorrow to bless
or reject the coalition pact. Analysts expect a green light from the
congress for what will be a fragile government, the most rightwing in
the Netherlands in decades.

An opinion poll yesterday showed majority Dutch support for the new
government.

The 46-page pact drawn up by the Liberal and Christian Democrat
leaders puts Wilders in the strong position of exercising power
without responsibility. His party will not be in the government but
will support the coalition in parliament in return for crucial policy
concessions.

"A new wind will blow in the Netherlands," he said. "We have enormous
influence ? It's a beautiful day for the Netherlands."

The leaders of the new government ? Mark Rutte, head of the Liberal
VVD party and the new prime minister, and Maxime Verhagen, leader of
the Christian Democrats and current foreign minister ? were more muted
in marking the breakthrough. Between them the two parties muster a
mere 52 seats in the 150-seat second chamber or lower house in The
Hague. With Wilders's caucus voting with the government it has a wafer-
thin majority at 76 seats.

Wilders has won pledges to introduce legislation banning Islamic
headgear, joining France, Belgium and Switzerland in a growing
campaign across Europe to ban a veil that relatively few Muslim women
wear.

The coalition will aim to halve immigration, emulate Denmark in making
it difficult for the spouses and children of immigrants to join them,
and deport immigrants found guilty of crimes meriting sentences of 12
years.

It is committed to slashing public spending by ?18bn and will take a
more Eurosceptic position towards Brussels, fighting for lower
contributions to the EU budget.

The inauguration of the new government next week looks likely to
coincide with Wilders's trial, which opens in Amsterdam on Monday.

Wilders was once banned from entering Britain by Gordon Brown's
government. He is going to Berlin tomorrow to drum up support for a
pan-European anti-Islam movement of the far right.


guardian.co.uk Copyright (c) Guardian News and Media Limited. 2010




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