by Radio Netherlands Worldwide wrote:Wilders, drugs, green issues dominate Dutch local elections
Geert Wilders, the Amsterdam North-South metro line, drugs and the environment, these are the main themes in the campaigns for the Dutch local elections to be held on the third of March.
This year, the local elections have taken on added significance because of the fall of the cabinet, which is still fresh in voters’ memories. The government crisis is expected to affect the results in the local elections. National politicians are sure to regard the outcome as indicative of their popularity.
Surveys show that the electorate does not feel very enthusiastic about the local elections. Research bureau BMC says that less than half of all voters will actually cast their ballots. The main reason is that Dutch voters don’t take much interest in local politics. Also, public confidence in politicians is low.
The main themes
A number of themes will play a major role in these local elections. Radio Netherlands Worldwide has made a list:
1. Geert Wilders’ Freedom Party (PVV)
Geert Wilders’ PVV will dominate the local elections. The party will for the first time field candidates in two towns. Opinion polls suggest that the party will win about 30 percent of the votes in Almere compared to 15.5 percent in The Hague.
Sietse Fritsma is PVV party leader in the nation’s political capital:
“Some Hague districts are a shambles. There are major issues concerning Moroccan mob violence, security issues. Some people are too scared to even walk their dogs. We need to implement a zero-tolerance policy in these districts. Get people who commit crimes off the streets. You have got to be on top of things.”
The party wants to fund the increase in security by introducing drastic cuts to cultural subsidies and integration projects. The other political parties have fiercely criticised the proposed cuts. The PVV’s plans have even prompted the formation of a Stop Wilders Now party.
2. Major projects
In many towns infrastructural projects are the focus of election campaigns. For example the planned dual carriageway in the Frisian town of Tytsjerksteradiel and the multi-billion euro North-South metro line in Amsterdam. The Red Amsterdam Nu (Save Amsterdam Now) party is trying to halt construction of the underground line.
Nelly Frijda of Red Amsterdam:
“We have had enough of all the megalomaniac projects undertaken in Amsterdam. We don’t need any of them. This is not New York. Amsterdam has districts. New York has them too, only these so-called boroughs are just as big as the entire city of Amsterdam. It just makes no sense.”
3. Drug policy
At a national level, the debate about condoning the use of soft drugs has been going on for several years. However, this debate is also conducted at a local level wherever residents are being directly confronted with drug-related problems. Some parties want to close down the so-called coffee shops (where the sale of cannabis is condoned, ed.). Others feel they should be kept open or even expanded. In Haarlemmermeer – a municipality of about 143.000 residents – the Labour Party is arguing for opening a third coffee shop. Local Labour Party leader Bert Van der Vliet:
“There is great demand for soft drugs. It is much better to regulate and control the trade than have it go underground, in which case there is no way to prevent children from buying them. It would also be impossible to monitor quality. We would much rather impose restrictions to keep this under control.”
In the Netherlands, local councils decide whether to keep the coffee shops open or not. Local politicians in Roosendaal and Bergen Op Zoom decided to close the coffee shops. The towns were flooded by drug tourists from south of the border.
4. The local environment and environmental policy
The party manifestos of the local parties have quite a lot to say about the local environment and environmental policy. Some parties put emphasis on green rooftops and facades, air quality and promoting public transport. Research carried out by the University of Wageningen shows that 85 percent of all party manifestos include a ‘green’ chapter.
Researcher Peter Visschedijk:
“In the past few years much attention has been paid to the influence of a green environment on the quality of life. Local politicians are particularly close to the population, and in the Netherlands they are responsible for the quality of the local environment. It’s only logical local that manifestos should reflect that.”
Research shows that austerity measures do not play a prominent role in these local elections, which is strange in view of the fact that local councils will have to cut millions of euros from their budgets as a result of the economic crisis. Clearly that isn’t a vote puller for political parties during election time.
http://www.rnw.nl/english/article/wilders-drugs-green-issues-dominate-Dutch-local-elections
On the provincial level we've got Bloc Québecois. Separatist and nationalist.
