Current:Home > StocksDutch anti-Islam lawmaker Geert Wilders has withdrawn a 2018 proposal to ban mosques and the Quran-LoTradeCoin
Dutch anti-Islam lawmaker Geert Wilders has withdrawn a 2018 proposal to ban mosques and the Quran
View Date:2024-12-24 00:02:50
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Far-right Dutch election winner Geert Wilders made a key concession to potential coalition partners on Monday, announcing that he’s withdrawing legislation that he proposed in 2018 that calls for a ban on mosques and the Quran.
The move came a day before talks to form the next government were set to resume following the November election. The abandonment of the bill could be critical in gaining the trust and support of three more mainstream parties that Wilders wants to co-opt into a coalition along with his Party for Freedom, known by its Dutch acronym PVV.
One of those parties’ leaders, Pieter Omtzigt of the reformist New Social Contract, has expressed fears that some of Wilders’ policies breach the Dutch Constitution that enshrines liberties, including the freedom of religion.
During a parliamentary debate last year after the PVV won 37 seats in the 150-seat lower house of the Dutch parliament in the Nov. 22 general election, Wilders flagged a softening of his party’s strident anti-Islam stance.
“Sometimes I will have to withdraw proposals and I will do that,” Wilders said in the debate. “I will show the Netherlands, the legislature, Mr. Omtzigt’s party — anybody who wants to hear it — that we will adapt our rules to the constitution and bring our proposals in line with it.”
Wilders is due to resume coalition talks on Tuesday with Omtzigt, and the leaders of two other parties — the center-right People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy of outgoing Prime Minister Mark Rutte and the Farmer Citizen Movement led by Caroline van der Plas.
Among three pieces of legislation axed by by Wilders Party for Freedom was one dating back to 2018 that proposes banning “Islamic expressions.” The text of the bill labels Islam a “violent, totalitarian ideology” and proposes bans on mosques, the Quran, Islamic schools and the wearing of burqas and niqabs.
Wilders didn’t immediately comment further on the decision to withdraw the legislation, which his party announced in a brief statement.
The three laws were proposed to parliament by Wilders in 2017, 2018 and 2019, but never garnered a majority in the lower house.
In an assessment of the proposed ban on Islamic expressions, the Council of State, an independent watchdog that evaluates legislation, called on Wilders to scrap it.
“The Advisory Division advises the initiators to abandon the bill,” the council said in advice published in 2019. “It is not compatible with the core elements of the democratic constitutional state; elements that the initiators intend to protect.”
veryGood! (761)
Related
- New York races to revive Manhattan tolls intended to fight traffic before Trump can block them
- Africa at a crossroads as more democracies fall to military coups, experts say
- Federal student loan payments are starting again. Here’s what you need to know
- Police search for 9-year-old girl who was camping in upstate New York
- Why have wildfires been erupting across the East Coast this fall?
- Will Russia, Belarus compete in Olympics? It depends. Here's where key sports stand
- Chicago Bears' woes deepen as Denver Broncos rally to erase 21-point deficit
- A populist, pro-Russia ex-premier looks headed for victory in Slovakia’s parliamentary elections
- Oprah Winfrey denies being paid $1M for Kamala Harris rally: 'I was not paid a dime'
- Shawn Johnson Reveals Her Surprising Reaction to Daughter Drew's Request to Do Big Girl Gymnastics
Ranking
- Mike Tomlin's widely questioned QB switch to Russell Wilson has quieted Steelers' critics
- Week 5 college football winners, losers: Bowers powers Georgia; Central Florida melts down
- AP Top 25 Takeaways: Should Georgia still be No. 1? Leaving Prime behind. Hard to take USC seriously
- Lil Tay Makes Comeback After 5-Year Absence, One Month After Death Hoax
- Why Dolly Parton Is a Fan of Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce's Little Love Affair
- Police search for 9-year-old girl who was camping in upstate New York
- Las Vegas Raiders release DE Chandler Jones one day after arrest
- Connecticut enacts its most sweeping gun control law since the Sandy Hook shooting
Recommendation
-
Contained, extinguished and mopping up: Here’s what some common wildfire terms mean
-
A California professor's pronoun policy went viral. A bomb threat followed.
-
Tropical Storm Philippe a threat for flash floods overnight in Leeward Islands, forecasters say
-
Pennsylvania governor’s voter registration change draws Trump’s ire in echo of 2020 election clashes
-
Oprah Winfrey Addresses Claim She Was Paid $1 Million by Kamala Harris' Campaign
-
Las Vegas Aces and New York Liberty set for WNBA Finals as top two teams face off
-
Taylor Swift's next rumored stadium stop hikes up ticket prices for Chiefs-Jets game
-
Taiwan unveils first domestically made submarine to help defend against possible Chinese attack