The local populist political party Leefbaar Rotterdam has given its tentative backing to the nomination of Ahmed Aboutaleb (Labour) as the city’s new mayor, even though its leader initially condemned the selection.

Aboutaleb, the current junior social affairs minister and a Muslim, is a controversial choice because he has dual Dutch and Moroccan nationality.
Leefbaar Rotterdam, the second biggest party on the city council behind Labour, was founded by Islam critic Pim Fortuyn who was murdered by an animal rights activist in 2002.
Speaking after Aboutaleb’s selection was announced, Ronald Sorenson, leader of Leefbaar Rotterdam on the city council, said: ‘He is an Amsterdammer, he is a careerist and an Ajax [Amsterdam football team] supporter, but the worst thing is that he has two passports.’
It was wrong to appoint someone to the job who represented the problem-causing [Moroccan] community, he said. Rotterdam has a large (47%) immigrant population and some of the poorest areas in the country.
On Monday Sorensen apologised to Aboutaleb. ‘I was speaking out of anger,’ the Volkskrant reported him as saying. ‘I should not have said certain things.’ Leefbaar’s candidate for the job came second.
Leefbaar party leader and representative on the mayoral selection panel, Marco Pastors, was reported as saying in the NRC that ‘Aboutaleb is closer to our position than that of his own Labour party,’ when it came to integration issues.
Home affairs minister, Guusje ter Horst, still has to formally approve Aboutaleb’s appointment.
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