Richard de Mos denies hiring non-Dutch speakers for campaign work

Richard de Mos of Hart voor Den Haag denies hiring people who don’t speak Dutch to hand out fliers. “That is sheer nonsense,” he said in response to a video by the left-wing platform Left Laser suggesting that De Mos is paying Bulgarians for campaign work.

The video shows people who do not speak Dutch handing out flyers for De Mos’s party. That is remarkable because Hart voor Den Haag’s manifesto states that immigrants who refuse to learn Dutch should be excluded from welfare benefits.

De Mos said that he did not know the people in the video and that the video surprised him. He suggested that volunteers recruited by Hart voor Den Haag candidates with an immigration background might have helped with the campaigning.

De Mos said that he does not find it remarkable that the people in the video don’t speak Dutch. “They are citizens of The Hague too,” he said. According to him, his party’s election manifesto can be read in any language.

The politician responded to the video following the NOS final election debate at LocHal in Tilburg. He was not pleased with the debate, in which national parliamentary party leaders also participated. “In general, I feel that local parties have had far too little exposure on national television.” According to him, it is better if the “national leaders” stick to national elections.

He expects Hart voor Den Haag to become the largest party in The Hague again. “We are sky-high in the polls,” he said. De Mos is hoping to secure over 16 seats in the city council.