THE HAGUE: The political party of Dutch far-right politician Geert Wilders, which is leading polls ahead of parliamentary elections next year, has vowed to close mosques and “ban the Qur’an” in its manifesto.
“All mosques and Islamic schools closed, a ban on the Qur’an,” said the document outlining the electoral program of the Freedom Party (PVV) ahead of March 2017 legislative elections, which was posted on Wilders’ Twitter feed.
The PVV says it will reverse the “Islamization” of the country with a range of measures including closing the borders, shutting asylum seeker centers, banning migrants from Islamic countries and stopping Muslim women from wearing the headscarf in public.
On the back of Europe’s migrant crisis, opinion polls have for months given Wilders’ PVV the edge over the current coalition parties of the Labour Party and the People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy led by Prime Minister Mark Rutte. The immigrant crisis has polarized the Netherlands, a nation of 17 million people, leading to heated debate and some attacks on refugee centers.
Wilders, who will go on trial for inciting racial hatred in October, also said he would do all he could to hold a referendum on the Netherlands leaving the EU, despite an unsuccessful first attempt in June following Britain’s shock Brexit vote.
Dutch party threatens to ban mosques
Dutch party threatens to ban mosques
