Wilders temporarily withdraws three controversial new bills
PVV leader Geert Wilders will temporarily withdraw three controversial new bills for the time being. He previously announced that he would shelve controversial positions of his party, which, for example, conflict with the Constitution. In this way, he wants to remove a significant barrier that would prevent other parties from forming with him.
One of the propositions is to ban "certain Islamic expressions." The Council of State judged that the bill would "discriminatorily deprive an entire population group of its right to fundamental freedoms."
Another bill is the plan to deprive people of multiple nationalities of their right to vote and add into the constitution "that persons with multiple nationalities may not be appointed to some positions," such as minister, king's commissioner, and mayor. The Council of State says that the bill violates the prohibition of discrimination and fundamental rights for large population groups, and as a result of which, "these groups are treated as second-class citizens."
The last bill is to make it possible to put people who are suspected of terrorist activities behind bars without interference from a judge. According to the Council of State, that plan "is going ahead in a way that is unacceptable in a constitutional state."
The PVV is speaking with the VVD, NSC of Pieter Omzigt, and BBB about a possible Cabinet formation. It is known that discussions will initially focus on potential disagreements about how the parties view the rule of law and the Constitution. Wilders has always said that he is willing to go far to accommodate the other parties. Part of this involves temporarily "putting on ice" plans that the PVV supports but violate fundamental rights.
Reporting by ANP