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.
Mosques, Islamic schools, the Koran and burkas must be removed from the Netherlands, the populist party leader said. "Let us strengthen our rule of law by putting our ideology above Sharia", Wilders said. "Out of love for the Netherlands. Out of love for our freedom."
PvdA leader Lodewijk Asscher pointed out that Wilders has been proposing this for years. "But nothing ever comes of it", Asscher said. ChristenUnie leader Gert-Jan Segers called Wilders' plans scary. "Defending freedom by getting rid of freedom", Segers said. Wilders responded: "Giving freedom to Islam is suicide." D66 leader Alexander Pechtold said that Wilders never "makes a serious attempt to get majority support" for this proposal. Wilders responded that he never makes a proposal that he isn't 100 percent behind. [NL Times] Read more
