Monday 08 March 2021

MPs vote to call Uighur detention genocide

MPs vote to call Uighur detention genocide

The Dutch parliament has become the first legislature in Europe to condemn the treatment of China’s Uighur minority as an act of genocide. A majority of MPs backed a motion proposed by former coalition parties D66 and ChristenUnie which said China was violating United Nations General Assembly Resolution 260, better known as the Genocide Convention. Independent reports from China’s Xinjiang province suggest that around a million Uighurs are detained in camps, tortured, raped and forced to work. Uighur women are... More >

Gov't agencies have lost touch: report

Gov't agencies have lost touch: report

Parliament, ministries and government agencies have often lost sight of the human element when drawing up and enacting policy, a parliamentary commission said on Thursday. In addition, there is a lack of trust, and interest in what other departments are doing, the commission said in a new report, which has been almost a year in the making. Both parliament and agencies, such as the benefit payments unit UWV and tax office, need to work more closely together to ensure more... More >

GroenLinks attempts to revive 'left pact'

GroenLinks attempts to revive 'left pact'

GroenLinks leader Jesse Klaver has urged other left-wing parties to form a pre-election pact to ensure they take part in the next cabinet. The party unveiled a new campaign poster with the slogan ‘more Lilian, Lilianne, Sigrid and Jesse’, referring to the leaders of the Socialist, Labour (PvdA) and D66 parties. Klaver also published an essay titled ‘Keerpunt 21’ – Turning Point 21 – referring to the joint manifesto in 1972 published by Labour, D66 and the Radical Party. ‘It’s... More >

De Jonge 'available' again as minister

De Jonge 'available' again as minister

Health minister Hugo de Jonge has said he would accept the job again if his party, the Christian Democrats, stays in government after the election. De Jonge stood down as leader of the CDA in January and withdrew as a candidate for the election next March, in order to concentrate on the coronavirus pandemic. De Jonge has been criticised for the slow start to the vaccination programme and unfulfilled promises on issues such as tracker apps In an interview with... More >

Political party membership grows

Political party membership grows

Some 321,000 people in the Netherlands are members of a political party, or 2.4% of the electorate, according to new figures by the political party documentation centre at the University of Groningen. The total is a 1.3% increase on 2020, the centre said. The biggest party remains the far right Forum voor Democratie, which claims 45,322 members, a rise of 3.7% on 2020, although the researchers say there are reasons to doubt that figure. For example ‘it is extremely unlikely’... More >

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