"Reprehensible" PVV knows nothing of Dutch constitution: Deputy PM

According to Deputy Prime Minister Lodewijk Asscher, the PVV "crossed a new line" by "clearly and unambiguously" stating that "Muslims do not have the same rights as other Dutch citizens". During the budget debate on Thursday, he called the statements of PVV Parliamentarian Machiel de Graaf "reprehensible". Asscher made his disapproval clear about the proposition that mosques have to be closed. "It can not be that a country with this constitution, is a country where all mosques are closed and the borders are closed to people from Muslim countries", the minister said. "Mister de Graaf creates the impression that he knows all kinds of suras by heart, but he has no idea what should be all important in this house, namely our constitution." says Asscher. Asscher also criticized earlier statements from the PVV that the Ridderzaal can't be a place for Islam. The Ridderzaal is a defining building of Parliament. Each year on Prinsjedag the King delivers his annual address in the Ridderzaal. Last week Asscher met with various religious organizations in the Ridderzaal. He did this in response to growing tensions between groups in the society. The PVV then asked Chamber questions on Islam, which according to them is "a subversive totalitarian ideology which declared war on the Free West". Party leader Geert Wilders and De Graaf state that no Muslim representation has the right to enter the Ridderzaal for these kind of occasions. According to the PVV Parliament Members, this applies all the more because the Act of Abjuration (the Netherlands' declaration of independence) hangs in the Ridderzaal. This symbolizes "the pursuit of freedom" says the PVV. "With this the PVV runs directly counter to the essence of our democratic state", says Asscher. "Discrimination on the grounds of religion, political opinion, race, gender or any other grounds whatsoever shall not be permitted. That is in the constitution that everyone in our country should adhere to." De Graaf then explained that Asscher should lose his "naivety". During the first day of the budget debate on Wednesday, De Graaf fiercely criticized Islam in the Netherlands. Among other things he stated that according to some Islamic leaders the West must be conquered "from the womb". According to him, the Dutch individuality, identity and culture is being destroyed through immigration.