Parliament refuses Sharon commemoration

Parliament chose not to observe two minutes of silence to commemorate Ariël Sharon Tuesday, as Geert Wilders requested. Chairman Anouchka van Miltenburg decided against it, after consultation with the different fractions. Wilders, who attended the memorial service in Jeruzalem on Monday, requested Parliament to observe a moment of silence out of respect for the former Israeli prime-minister. Instead Van Miltenburg will express her sympathy, on behalf of the House, to the Israeli ambassador in The Hague, according to her spokesperson. Ariel_Sharon
Helene C. Stikkel
Wikimedia commons It is unknown whether there were fractions that opposed a commemoration. In a response Van Miltenburg's spokesperson only referred to the guidelines for commemoration of former heads of state or government leaders. The European Parliament also conducted business as usual, and a request from PVV leader, Laurence Stassen, to observe a moment, was wiped off the table by EU chairman, Martin Schulz, without explanation. Stassen is planning on filing an official complaint. It is common courtesy to commemorate deceased leaders of befriended countries. Earlier another EU MP did voice he opposed a commemoration, because he felt Sharon was responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands of Palestinians.