Opposition parties clash with VVD for dithering on fireworks ban
Opposition parties clashed with particularly the VVD about the party’s hesitance to support a nationwide ban on consumer fireworks during the annual parliamentary debate on the riots during the past New Year’s Eve. Supporters of the ban accused the VVD of hypocrisy, saying that the party can’t “stand up for the police and emergency services all year round, but look the other way once a year,” NU.nl reports.
The progressive parties have long supported calls from the police, healthcare institutions, and municipalities to ban consumer fireworks. Over the past New Year’s Eve celebrations, around 350 first responders were confronted with violence and 187 people suffered eye injuries - the largest number in ten years. “The consequences of the fireworks violence are enormous, both physically and mentally,” police chief Janny Knol said. Many police officers no longer want to work on New Year’s Eve, a recent survey showed.
GroenLinks-PvdA and PvdD have submitted a motion for a fireworks ban, which will be debated in a few weeks. The CDA also threw its support behind a ban, changing its mind on the topic last week. “Unfortunately, New Year’s Eve has increasingly become a low point for violence against the police, emergency services, and healthcare providers,” CDA parliamentarian Derk Boswijk said on Tuesday. The party can no longer look the other way. But that is not yet enough for a majority in the Tweede Kamer, the lower house of the Dutch parliament,
The proponents of a ban urged others, the VVD in particular, to no longer express their vehement support for the police and the emergency services all year only to turn a blind eye when New Year’s comes around.
The VVD is still against a ban, but the topic is up for discussion within the party, parliamentarian Ingrid Michon-Derkzen said on Tuesday. She is mainly doubtful about how much effect a ban would have, saying that the people who attack first responders would simply ignore it.
The NSC is also not a definite no. Just like the VVD, the NSC MP Faith Bruyning said the party does not want to “simply ignore” the calls from the country and is, therefore, “in deliberation.”
The other two coalition parties, PVV and BBB, remain firmly opposed to banning consumer fireworks. According to them, most incidents are the result of illegal fireworks. “You can’t ban them again,” said BBB leader Caroline van der Plas. According to her, a ban would affect “the common man and woman” who “want to set off a decorative pot” while the troublemakers “will continue to riot as long as we don’t take tough action against them.”
