Nieuws van de afdeling

9 October 2011

State secret

On the morning of 6th October I suddenly found myself in possession of a state secret. I didn’t want to be, but there it was all the same. The secret in question was an account of a discussion on 4th October in the Rijksministerraad – the Netherlands’ state council of ministers - of a report on the government of Curaçao. Chaired by Prime Minister Rutte, the Rijksministerraad covers the whole of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, including remaining overseas possessions, and consists of members of the Dutch government and representatives of Curaçao, Aruba and Sint Maarten. Leaking information from this state council is a criminal offence, one for which you can go to prison. Yet politicians on Curaçao deliberately distributed the account.

8 October 2011

'War in Afghanistan is becoming ever more a Gordian knot.'

Ten years after the start of the war in Afghanistan, the conflict has only become more complex and more dangerous. What began as a war against a single country has grown ever more into a regional conflict, and because of this a lasting solution is disappearing further and further over the horizon.

7 October 2011

Ombudsman speaks out: 'Social rental accommodation is also for those on average incomes’

SP Member of Parliament Sadet Karabulut is attracting increasing support for her fight against the agreement between the government and the European Commission which effectively excludes those on average incomes from consideration for social housing. Latest to speak out is the public broadcasting corporation VARA’s Ombudsman, who joins a majority of MPs in expressing support for Karabalut’s call on Home Affairs Minister Piet Hein Donner’s to return to Brussels to ensure that social accommodation is also available to people earning incomes which, while lifting them well above the poverty line, are insufficient to enable them to buy their own homes.

6 October 2011

EU foreign policy must promote freedom of religion and secularism

Centrist liberals D66 joined the SP in the European Parliament in urging the adoption of foreign policy rules for the protection of freedom of religion and philosophical conviction and the furtherance of the principle of separation between religious establishment and state outside Europe. The European diplomatic corps, known as the EU External Action Service, should be acting against discriminatory laws abroad. The two parties also want the High Representative for EU foreign policy, Catherine Ashton to publish an annual report on the issue. This was the outcome of a debate in the European Parliament organised on Thursday by the two Dutch opposition parties and attended by diplomats and senior advisers of the US government and the European Union.

5 October 2011

Palestinians granted 'Partner for Democracy' status in Council of Europe

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) has awarded the Palestinian parliament the status of 'Partner for Democracy'. The assembly took the decision yesterday on the recommendation of Netherlands representative SP Senator Tiny Kox, who had presented a resolution to that effect. Senator Kox was earlier in the year appointed by PACE as special rapporteur for relations with the Palestinian Council and parliament. As a result of the 'Partner for Democracy' status, Palestinian MPs can henceforth participate in the assembly’s meetings and other activities, joining representatives of forty-seven countries.

4 October 2011

Parliament supports SP: pharmaceutical industry research must be made public

Parliament today voted in favour of a proposal from SP Member of Parliament Henk van Gerven all of the results of research into the effects of medicines on human beings must be made public. ‘Thanks to this proposal firms will no longer be able to sweep negative results under the carpet,’ says Van Gerven. ‘Scientific research will in this way be improved and made safer.’

International