Coalition party D66 wants to ban political parties that disrupt rule of law

Coalition party D66 wants to make it easier for the Public Prosecution Service (OM) to ban political parties that undermine the rule of law. The party wants the article of the Civil Code that now prohibits criminal motorcycle gangs, among other things, to also apply to political parties, D66 party chairman Jan Paternotte said to NOS.

That article currently excludes political parties, but the D66 wants that exemption scrapped. “We say: it can’t be the case that in this time, when you see democracy is under pressure everywhere, we say that undermining the rule of law is not allowed unless you are a political party.”

The Cabinet is working on a separate law for political parties, including the possibility of banning them. But the D66 doesn’t want to wait for that. “That will take another year and a half while we see that radicalization is going fast in some pirates in the Netherlands,” Paternotte said, referring mainly to the FvD.

“A lot has been said lately. From: we want to overthrow the government to: violence is beautiful because it can change things. We have to take that seriously. Democracy is too beautiful not to protect,” Paternotte said.

The OM is currently investigating whether recent comments by FvD MP Gideon van Meijeren, who speculated about people occupying parliament to topple the government, are punishable. Paternotte compared those comments to the United States in January 2021, when Donald Trump incited his supporters to storm the Capitol. Five people died.

Whether the FvD should be banned is up to the OM, Paternotte said. “Now, it can’t make that decision simply because there is an exception for political parties. That has to be taken off the table.”

“Democracy is fragile. Everyone can operate within it, including parties wanting to eliminate it. But that makes us different from Russia and China, where there is no opposition. That is precisely why we must protect democracy. And therefore be able to take measures against organizations that undermine the rule of law,” Paternotte said.

He called the objection that parties could be banned depending on the political preference of the moment not valid. “Something like this doesn’t just happen. And it is not up to the political parties, but the OM.”