In preparation for the resumed Dutch coalition talks Tuesday, Geert Wilders on Monday made a key concession, withdrawing his party’s ban on “expressions of Islam” that would include a ban on mosques and the Quran.
Leaders of the potential coalition parties—the VVD, NSC, and BBB—gathered on Tuesday alongside Wilders’ Partij voor de Vrijheid (Party for Freedom, PVV) for three days of talks under the aegis of coalition scout Ronald Plasterk.
Exactly what is being discussed has not been announced, although assurances that the Dutch Constitution, which enshrines various liberties, including the freedom of religion, will be safeguarded—a reason cited by the PVV’s potential partners not to form a cabinet with it—will certainly be part of it.
To assuage potential coalition partners’ concerns, Geert Wilders announced Monday that he is withdrawing his party’s proposed 2018 legislation that called for a ban on “expressions of Islam.”
That proposal, its original description said, was:
necessary and essential to neutralize the Islamic danger threatening the Netherlands. It is the duty of the Dutch government to protect the rule of law, democracy, freedoms and security from a hostile ideology bent on political conquest, which historically and globally has proven to have only one goal: to Islamize the world and subjugate all peoples.
The Council of State, a watchdog that evaluates legislation, called on Wilders to scrap the proposal. “The Advisory Division advises the initiators to abandon the bill,” the council said in its recommendation, published in 2019. “It is not compatible with the core elements of the democratic constitutional state; elements that the initiators intend to protect.”
During a parliamentary debate last year following his party’s historic win, Wilders signaled he would tone down his party’s anti-Islamist stance.
“Sometimes I will have to withdraw proposals and I will do that,” Wilders said during the debate. “I will show the Netherlands, the legislature, Mr. Omtzigt’s party [the NSC]—anybody who wants to hear it—that we will adapt our rules to the constitution and bring our proposals in line with it.”
In the run-up to the elections, Wilders had made it known that, should he have the opportunity to participate in the next cabinet, he would be willing to make concessions.
While a core tenet of the PVV had remained unchanged since its founding in 2006 (i.e. limiting The Netherlands’ islamisation), at present there were “more important priorities” to consider.