PVV leader Geert Wilders apologised to voters and parliament on Tuesday night because of the row surrounding the criminal convictions of one of his 23 MPs.

During a debate on the scandal, Wilders said he apologised to ‘voters and the entire lower chamber of parliament as representative of the Dutch people’.
Last week it emerged PVV MP Eric Lucassen had been convicted of having an inappropriate relationship with an army recruit while an officer and has been fined twice for offences relating to disputes with his neighbours.
Stability
But Wilders said the disclosures had not put the stability of the government at risk. The PVV supports the minority CDA/VVD administration on economic policy in return for cuts in immigration.
The PVV’s ‘spectacular growth’ meant the party had not carried out proper research into its candidates, Wilders said. ‘We are paying the price for that.’
During the debate, opposition MPs accused Wilders of having double standards but the CDA and VVD both insisted the issue is a matter for the PVV itself.
More claims
Meanwhile, two other PVV MPs have come under newspaper scrutiny.
On Wednesday morning, papers reported that another MP, James Sharpe, had been suspended by the Dutch athletics board for six months for apparently attacking another athlete with a spike.
And on Tuesday evening new right-wing broadcaster Powned reported Sharpe had been head of a telecoms company in Hungary which was fined €256,000 for misleading customers.
The fine was the maximum payable in Hungary. The company, Digitania, used non-existing women in dating adverts and charged customers high fees for sending them text messages.
Headmaster
And the Volkskrant reports on Wednesday that MP Richard de Mos, who claims to have been ‘head of a school’ in the most difficult neighbourhood of The Hague was an ordinary teacher at a primary school.
Asked about the allegations, De Mos told the paper he had done a two-year course to become a school director and had the necessary diplomas.