Tag Archive for: mandatory public referendums

Geert Wilders: Use Referendums to Combat Mass Muslim Mygration

Bat Ye’or in her interviews, articles and books, especially Eurabia, published a decade ago, warned us about the bureaucratic and political elite in the EU abetting mass Muslim immigration leading to ultimate Islamization and loss of Western foundational values. Now, in the midst of the wave of over a half million Muslim asylum seekers flooding Europe, these political elite are like the proverbial deer frozen in the headlights of an oncoming vehicle unwilling to address this threat.  Geer Wilders, leader of the Freedom Party  in The Netherlands has written an op-ed in the Dutch publication, Volkskrant, this past Thursday about mandatory public referendums on critical issues, such as addressing the wave of Muslim asylum seekers. NL Times published a digest of his proposal, “Wilders calls for binding referendums on populist issues:”

PVV leader Geert Wilders wants the Netherlands to introduce more and binding referendums in which citizens can have their say in policy. According to him, this is necessary because “time and again”the“political elite does exactly the opposite of what people want”.

With these statements, Wilders is pointing to the sometimes fierce disagreements about the Netherlands sheltering asylum seekers. “The asylum crisis is a symptom of a far deeper malady”, he wrote. “Namely a political elite that has lost touch with the people. Nowhere is it more evident than in the asylum debate. Most Dutch realize that mass immigration is not an enrichment but leads to loss of prosperity, security and identity.”

Wilders wants the Netherlands to follow Switzerland’s example. The country often holds referendums and maintains a form of direct democracy. “Dutch should [have] the chance more often to directly decide about their [positions] in referendums.” he wrote. “The Swiss are a proud and patriotic people who will never sell out the wills to Brussels. We can learn a lot from them.”

The PVV leader calls the referendum on the association agreement with Ukraine on April 6th a “good start”, but he wants referendums to be the rule, not the exception. “And binding, so the government has to consider the results.”

Wilders believes that it is time for a clean sweep. “The present rulers have brought the Netherlands to the brink of collapse. The regime in The Hague is unworldly and no longer speaks on behalf of the people.” he writes. “Once the Tweede Kamer [Dutch Parliament] is elected, politicians know today that they can do what they want uncorrected for four years and ignore the people. It is time to renew our democracy.”

EDITORS NOTE: This column originally appeared in the New English Review. The featured image is of Geert Wilders, leader of the Dutch Freedom Party (PVV).