Dutch politicians peddle odd ideas
FIERCE: VOTES DRIVE DRAWS RECORD NUMBER OF 28 PARTIES Campaign rhetoric includes legalising all drugs and scrapping Sunday shopping.
Legalising all drugs, banning a blackface children’s character, scrapping Sunday shopping and introducing mobile apps to tell MPs how to vote are some of the unorthodox ideas being peddled by Dutch political parties.
At least 28 parties – a postWorld War II record – are vying for the 150 seats in the centuries-old parliament when The Netherlands goes to the polls on March 15.
The country’s newest party, Artikel 1, founded late last year by former TV host Sylvana Simons to fight racism, recently floated perhaps one of the most controversial ideas.
It entails banning a traditional Christmas-time character called Zwarte Piet (Black Pete) from public spaces.
The beloved jolly character accompanies Dutch Saint Nicolas in early December to hand out sweets to kids.
Artikel 1 would ban Black Pete figures from public spaces, and proclaim July 1 as a national holiday to mark the abolition of slavery.
Meanwhile, should they get their say, the techno-savvy StemNL Party (VoteNL) proposes that all citizens should weigh in on draft legislation before the Dutch lower house through a mobile phone app.
After receiving an alert that MPs are about to cast ballots, the issue would be put up for a “citizens’ vote” via the app.
StemNL’s lawmakers will then rely on the outcome of the citizens’ poll to decide which way to vote.
“In the 21st century, we don’t need a new government, we need a new system to give The Netherlands the kind of democracy it deserves,” the party said on its website.
At the other end of the spectrum, the Non-Voter Party (NietStemmers) has no political programme and plans “not to vote for anything” in the lower house.
Initially, 81 parties had enrolled with the Dutch Election Council in mid-December to field candidates on March 15, but only 28 finally met the criteria to participate.
Parties that did not make it included the Kleptocrat Party – wanting to scrap anti-tobacco and anti-smoking laws – and the “HHH Party”, which in Dutch translates to the “Ha Ha Ha Party”, as well as the Politically Correct Party. – AFP