"Fuck off" statement haunts Dutch PM through 2nd day of Budget Debate
Prime Minister Mark Rutte faced a lot criticism from opposition parties during the second day of the Budget Debate in parliament on Thursday. Much of the angry words centered around the Prime Minister's statement regarding troublemakers among the young Turkish-Dutch community following an attempted coup in Turkey in July, NU.nl reports.
In an episode of Zomergasten, Rutte was shown a video of a journalist being harassed by Turkish-Dutch protesters shortly after the attempted coup. “My primary first feeling is: fuck off yourself. Go back to Turkey”, Rutte said on the show.
Even coalition partner PvdA was critical of these statements during the Debate on Thursday. "Unworthy of a Prime Minister", PvdA leader Diederik Samsom said. "Pure sensationalism", CDA leader Sybrand Buma said. Alexander Pechtold of the D66 thinks that Rutte is differentiating between Dutch trouble makers and non-Dutch troublemakers. PVV leader Geert Wilders repeated his criticism that Rutte's statements will have no consequences. Wilders himself is facing hate speech charges for statements made about Moroccans. The third pre-trial hearing in the so-called "fewer Moroccans" case is happening today.
On Thursday Rutte said that he stands by his words. Anyone has the right to demonstrate, but anyone who keeps a journalist from doing his job only deserves one answer, and that is "fuck off".
The SP, PVV and VNL also confronted Rutte on his slow decision-making regarding whether or not the Netherlands will ratify the association agreement between the Ukraine and the European Union. A referendum on the matter voted for the agreement not to be ratified, yet the government hasn't done anything about it yet. "Left and right, friend and foe in the Kamer say: carry out (the referendum vote, ed)", Wilders said. The Tweede Kamer, the lower house of Dutch parliament, including coalition parties PvdA and VVD called on the government to make a decision on this by November.
