International

SP Member of Parliament Farshad Bashir ended his Afghanistan Tour last Tuesday in Groningen. During the last few weeks, in six different towns in the Netherlands, he took part in discussions on the Dutch military mission in Afghanistan with aid organisations, SP Members of Parliament and the general public. “Supporters and opponents of the mission took the floor on each occasion, but they all had one thing in common," says Bashir. "They knew that the mission in Uruzgan is not a reconstruction mission but a military mission, and that peace in Afghanistan will come only through diplomacy, including talks with the Taliban.”

The Senate voted on Tuesday by a large majority to endorse the Lisbon Treaty, successor to the European Constitution rejected three years ago by the Dutch people. SP Senate leader Tiny Kox drew Premier Jan Peter Balkenende's attention to the contradiction between the parliamentary yes and the popular no of 2005, when two-thirds of the electorate voted against the European Constitution. "The two houses of Parliament form the elected representation of the Dutch people," said Senator Kox, "but the Dutch people feel on this point that they are not represented, That should cause you concern."