Socialist leader kicks off election campaign with hologram appearance at four gatherings

Socialist party SP kicked off their campaign for the municipal elections on Monday with party leader Lilian Marijnissen appearing as a hologram at gatherings in Haarlem, Breda, Nijmegen and Zwolle at the same time.

The municipal elections will be held on March 21st. On the same day there will also be a referendum on a new law that will give the Dutch intelligence and security services more capabilities for data mining - officially called the Intelligence and Security Law, but often referred to as the Big Data Law. This referendum is not only about the Big Data Law, Marijnissen said on Monday, but also a referendum on democracy itself, NOS reports. She was referring to the government's intention to abolish advisory referendums.

"We can not accept that a democratic right is being taken away. Not at all without people having spoken out about it. Vote against the Big Data law, and thus for the referendum", the SP leader said, according to the broadcaster. "We will not let the referendum be taken away. [Prime Minister and VVD leader] Mark Rutte wants to eavesdrop on you, but you are not allowed to say anything."

The Tweede Kamer, the lower house of Dutch parliament, will further debate the abolishment of the referendum on Tuesday.

Another important point in the SP's election campaign, is more investment in security. So that people can count on the police being there when they are needed, Marijnissen said. The SP leader called on the government to stop closing police stations in the neighborhoods and to immediately hire another two thousand police officers. That will cost around 500 million euros. According to Marijnissen, that money can be raised simply by maintaining the dividend tax for multinationals.

Police union NPB is sending a new report to the Tweede Kamer on Tuesday in which they also call for the immediate appointment of 2 thousand more detectives.