PVV MP quits over Wilders anti-Moroccan rants

By Maxime Zech on Friday, 21 March 2014 - 07:53
Roland van Vliet
Source: Twitter/@JaapJansen

Member of Parliament for the PVV, Roland van Vliet, is planning on removing himself from the PVV-fraction in the House of Parliament, RTL Nieuws reports. 

In an interview with RTL, Van Vliet said his departure is in protest against recent comments made by party leader Geert Wilders on Wednesday, during an election evening gathering with supporters. Wilders asked if his supporters would like more or fewer Moroccans in The Hague, smiling when they chanted back "Fewer. Fewer. Fewer." He then made the promise that he could arrange that.

"I had to justify something for myself. I can't do that. There are so many Moroccans who are doing good in the Netherlands", Van Vliet said.

Van Vliet called Wilders' actions the last drop, the straw that broke the camel's back. He will remain in Parliament as a one-man fraction.

Van Vliet taking issue with the line of the PVV is not new, political chief at NRC Handelsblad,René Moerland says. The Parliamentarian said that Wilders went a rung higher on the "ladder of accomplished facts."

"You can see this as a critique on the antisocial nature of Wilders. He toes his own line and the fraction members just have to go along with it", Moerland said.

According to NRC, earlier attempts to step over to the VVD were made by Van Vliet, which was denied by VVD-fraction leader Halbe Zijlstra last year.

Wilders' comments have caused outrage throughout the country. Lawyer Gerard Sprong even finds them punishable by law. "These are purely discriminatory remarks", he told the NRC. PM Mark Rutte said the comments left him with a "bad taste" in his mouth.

Vice-Prime Minster Lodewijk Asscher said he was disgusted by the images. The PvdA member called it hate-breeding, the NOS reports.

The Public Prosecution Authority (OM) announced on Thursday night that hundreds of people filed reports against Wilders, in The Hague alone, almost a hundred reports came in by Thursday night, and more are expected with the Facebook group: 'Ik doe aangifte tegen Wilders' advocating people to do so.

Moreover, Moroccans have been fighting back with the #BornHere campaign on Twitter.

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