Denk

On Tuesday the SP decided to get behind a CDA and D66 motion for a women's quota for the supervisory boards of listed companies. With that there is a majority support in the Tweede Kamer for the motion that is intended to ensure that at least 30 percent of supervisory directors in business are women, NOS reports. 

Another five political parties joined the call of youth movement Coalitie-Y to abolish the student loan system. The manifesto to this effect will be handed to Prime Minister Mark Rutte on Monday evening, the night before Budget Day, the Volkskrant reports.

Minister Sander Dakker for Legal Protection acknowledged in a parliamentary debate on Wednesday that he bears political responsibility for mistakes made in the treatment of Michael P., the man who raped and murdered 25-year-old Anne Faber from Utrecht in 2017. At the same time he asked parliament to trust him to also solve the problems. He survived the debate, NU.nl reports.

"I feel the responsibility in my every fiber", Dekker said. "One of my most important tasks is to protect society from people like Michael P." 

FvD leader Thierry Baudet believes that his party's victory in the Provincial States election is punishment for the "arrogance and stupidity" of the Netherlands' current leaders. In his victory speech he emphasized that FvD is now one of the largest parties in the country, and that a change has been set in motion. "Economic and political capitulation is coming to an end", he said, NOS reports.

Broadcaster WNL uninvited DENK leader Tunahan Kuzu from being a guest editor on current affairs program Goedemorgen Nederland, because the broadcaster thinks that he does not sufficiently guarantee press freedom in the Netherlands, NU.nl and NOS report.

The current affairs program is inviting a different political leader every day to discuss the Provincial States election that is taking place on March 20th. Wednesday morning was Kuzu's turn.

Several parties in the lower house of Dutch parliament voiced strong criticism on Prime Minister Mark Rutte's response to disturbances around various Sinterklaas celebrations in the Netherlands over the weekend. The Prime Minister's call for no demonstrations in the three weeks that Sinterklaas is in the Netherlands in particular led to bewilderment from the D66, GroenLinks, SP, PvdA, ChristenUnie, PvdD and DENK, among others, NU.nl reports.

PVV leader Geert Wilders put forward a proposal to ban all forms of Islamic expressions in the Netherlands during the first day of the General Considerations, the parliamentary debate on the government's plans and budget for the next year, on Wednesday. The proposal was immediately shot down by the other parties, NU.nl reports.

Minister Stef Blok of Foreign Affairs survived a motion of no confidence in a parliamentary debate on Wednesday about statements he made on multicultural societies. Many opposition parties voted against him, but he still has the support of the coalition, NU.nl reports.

The violence a police officer used while arresting a woman on Stadhuisplein in Rotterdam last month was not proportional, Mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb wrote in response to questions from the local DENK faction. The officer was allowed to use force, but the degree of violence used crossed a line, according to the mayor, NOS reports.

In the run-up to the parliamentary election last year, pro-diversity party DENK worked on a fake PVV advertisement aimed at setting the anti-Islam party in a bad light, NPO Radio 1 program De Nieuws BV reports. DENK ultimately decided not to use the idea. PVV leader Geert Wilders is furious and is considering pressing charges against DENK.

The online ad consisted of a picture of Wilders with the text: 'After 15 March we will purify the Netherlands', according to De Nieuws BV. 

The final municipal election results for Rotterdam are in, and they are mostly the same as the interim results. The only difference is that anti-Islam PVV lost one seat in the city council, and pro-diversity party DENK gained one. That shift is due to the distribution of residual seats, NOS reports.

The PVV now stands at one seat, and DENK at four. For the rest the results are the same as the provisional results announced on Wednesday evening.