Nieuws van de afdeling

1 April 2011

Jan Marijnissen: On war, progress and justice

The owner of the kebab shop where I sometimes go is an Egyptian. I have often spoken with him about the situation in the Arab world. ‘Jan,’ he says, ‘they’re all dictatorships, and a fat lot the dictators care about the people’s concerns. It’s incomprehensible that the West helps these dictators. It can only be because of the oil.’ I invariably reply by asking ‘why doesn’t anyone rise up against these dictators?’ ‘Because it isn’t easy, and it’s risky.’

31 March 2011

Support for UN mission in South Sudan

The SP has voted to back the prolongation of the Dutch contribution to the UN mission in South Sudan (UNMIS). In the SP’s view, the peacekeeping mission must be supported in order to make possible the peaceful secession of South Sudan. SP development spokesman Ewout Irrgang explains: ‘The Dutch contribution of twelve military observers, fifteen police trainers and a few officials may be limited, but that doesn’t alter the fact that it’s an important mission.’

31 March 2011

SP: no support for hopeless war in Libya

SP Member of Parliament Harry van Bommel today spoke out against the Dutch military contribution into the enforcement of the no fly zone over Libya. ‘We are in favour of a ‘no fly zone’, he said, ‘but this has already been achieved. The first goal of the UN resolution which led to all of this was a cease-fire, but this is moving more and more towards participation in a war, with a military victory the sole target. Our intention is to see a return to the main point of the resolution, which was a cease-fire.’

31 March 2011

SP presents proposals for smaller EU budget

The EU will shortly adopt a new multi-annual budget for the period 2014-2020. Most Members of the European Parliament want to either leave things much as they are, or even argue for a sizeable increase in the budget over the next few years. SP Euro-MP Dennis de Jong is an exception, as he explains: ‘There is now an historic chance for the EU to develop an improved budget and I have today presented a large number of proposals to achieve this. The SP wants to see a smaller EU budget and cuts in unnecessary bureaucracy and frivolous pet projects, an end to the practice of the member states paying out money to Brussels only to have some of it returned in the form of grants, and less extravagant salaries for European officials.’

30 March 2011

Euro-MPs ‘delighted’ by Commission’s denunciation of criminalisation plan for unauthorised residence

MEPs from the SP and four other Dutch political parties – Labour, the Green Left, the centrist D66 and the Christian Union – expressed their delight at the European Commission’s answers to questions regarding the Dutch government’s plans to make unauthorised residence a criminal offence. Commenting on the Commission’s replies, SP Euro-MP Dennis de Jong, on whose initiative the parliamentary questions were presented, said ‘The European Commission made it clear that complete criminalisation of unauthorised residence is in conflict with European law. It will be extremely difficult for the government to come up with a legislative proposal which Brussels can approve.’

29 March 2011

Senate questions government over investment ban on cluster munitions

A clear majority of the Senate today voted to support a motion calling on the government to impose a ban on direct investment in cluster munitions. Only the right wing VVD and the centrist D66 voted against. Such a ban would bring the government’s policies into line with the international treaty on cluster munitions ratified by the Senate in February. Describing himself as ‘delighted with this motion’, SP Senator Arjan Vliegenthart said: ‘During February’s debate a clear majority in the Senate in favour of an investment ban on cluster munitions was evident. The government then announced that as things stood it favoured a ‘covenant’, under which banks and investors would state on a voluntary basis that they would no longer invest in cluster munitions, but that it wanted to examine its options. With the adoption of this motion the Senate has given a clear signal to the government that it should take action and make investment in these horrible bombs impossible.'

International