Left-wing political party Denk has called for a “discrimination deadline” of 2030 to be set for all government institutions in its manifesto for next month’s election.

The party said “discrimination and the poison of exclusion has penetrated the government itself” with the formation of the last cabinet, which included Geert Wilders’ far-right PVV.

Denk accused the other coalition partners – VVD, NSC and BBB – of having “opened a dangerous route to normalising the fascist ideas of Wilders”.

Despite discrimination being banned under Article 1 of the Dutch constitution, Denk said many people in the Netherlands were excluded or marginalised on the grounds of their origin, gender, religion or “other kind of group label”.

The party, which draws most of its vote from minority ethnic communities, is also calling for much tougher sanctions against Israel, including an end to all military and economic co-operation.

Sanctions on Israel

That would include an arms embargo and the withdrawal of Dutch pension fund capital invested in Israeli companies, as well as cutting subsidies for pro-Israel lobby groups.

Denk’s manifesto includes the slogan “From the river to the sea”, which other parties have condemned as expressing a desire to see Israel obliterated.

Denk leader Stephan van Baarle said the statement symbolised the wish for freedom for the Palestinian people.

Denk is also proposing measures to combat poverty, including free breakfast and lunches at school in deprived neighbourhoods and comprehensive secondary schooling so that pupils can move more easily between streams.

Schools should allow pupils to take “religious leave” for holidays such as Eid and Diwali, but the party also wants to allow more time off for significant life events such as bereavement or the death of a child.

Leadership row

Denk is currently projected to win between three and five seats in the election, possibly adding to its current three.

The party was embroiled in a leadership row last month when Van Baarle resigned as leader, accusing the executive board of interfering in the selection of candidates for the election.

Chairman Edjer Köse and the rest of the board then quit, at which point Van Baarle was reinstated at the head of the list of candidates, followed by the party’s othe two MPs, Dogukan Ergin and Ismail el Abassii. The next two candidates are both women, Elif Esen and Nassira Abaaziz.