Nieuws van de afdeling

13 November 2011

Shaky steps towards democracy in Kyrgyzstan

On 30th October the people of the young democracy of Kyrgyzstan were able to elect their new President. As one of the three hundred observers from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), SP Senator Nanneke Quik-Schuijt had the job of determining whether these elections were conducted in an open and fair manner. No simple task, as can be seen from her report.

13 November 2011

Russia: complicated elections coming up

Greater access to the media and broader campaigning opportunities for political parties, but also an uneven playing field and fears of possible manipulation of election results: these are what leaders of political parties, human rights organisations and observers from within the country point to in the run-up to the Russian parliamentary elections scheduled for December.

10 November 2011

EU Court of Auditors Report reveals billions in misspent EU money

For the 17th year in succession the European Court of Auditors has, for 2010, withheld approval from the EU’s expenditure accounts. After four years in which the number of errors in these accounts has been falling, the books for 2010 have shown a rise, from 3.3% to 3.7% of the budget. The total amount of money involved is €4.5 billion. SP Euro-MP Dennis de Jong, responding to the news, said that ‘Although most of the errors are down to the member states themselves and relate to their spending of EU subsidies, it’s extremely disappointing that this year the percentage has once again shown an increase. The European Parliament must force the Commission to make much stricter arrangements with the member states regarding monitoring their spending of EU moneys.’

9 November 2011

Van Bommel seeks parliamentary enquiry into decolonisation of Suriname

SP Member of Parliament is urging the establishment of a parliamentary enquiry into Dutch involvement in Suriname’s decolonisation process. His desire to see an enquiry was prompted by the government’s answer to a parliamentary question put by the SP in November, 2010 in which the government admits that in 1986 plans were laid for a full scale invasion. ‘Many of the problems afflicting relations between the Netherlands and Suriname can be traced back to the failed decolonisation,’ says Van Bommel. ‘Dutch responsibility for this has never been clarified.’

9 November 2011

‘Ratify UN Disability Treaty before end of year’

SP Member of Parliament Renske Leijten is demanding that the government ratify the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities before the end of the year. The Convention commits signatories to granting people with any kind of disability the same rights as others and to ensuring that they are able to take a full part in the life of their societies. Once a state has signed, it must also ratify the treaty, which means that laws and regulations must be amended to accord with this commitment.

8 November 2011

Dutch participation in missile shield? No thanks!

Despite deep cuts in defence spending the Netherlands’ navy is participating in the development of a NATO missile shield. In addition to the enormous costs, Harry van Bommel and Jasper van Dijk foresee problems affecting foreign policy.

International