Nieuws van de afdeling

2 June 2008

Congratulations delivered to Irish Embassy

SP Members of Parliament Harry van Bommel and Sharon Gesthuizen were at the Irish embassy today to offer their written congratulations to the ambassador on his country's holding of a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty. The Irish are the only member state to offer voters the chance to express their views on a treaty which is almost identical in content to that rejected by the Dutch and French electorates three years ago.

30 May 2008

Council of Europe: major concerns over Turkey and China

The Council of Europe is extremely concerned about the situation in Turkey and in China. In Turkey, a member state of the Council of Europe, the High Court is considering a ban on the ruling AK Party of President Gül and Prime Minister Erdogan. Such a ban would plunge the country into a political crisis. China, which is in the process of preparing for the Olympic Games, plays an ever greater economic and political role in Europe. Yet human rights and democratic practices are treated there with disdain. The Standing Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), which includes SP Senator Tiny Kox, Chair of the United Left Group in PACE, decided in Strasbourg this week to put both questions on the agenda of the Assembly's next plenary in Strasbourg.

30 May 2008

Limit on number of foreign players: EU should not meddle in football federation's decision

The SP is enthusiastic about FIFA's decision to apply a '6 + 5' rule, under which a minimum of six players from a club's own country and a maximum of five from abroad would be present on the field of play at any one time. The European Commission is seeking, however, to block this rule on the grounds that it is in conflict with the free movement of labour. “This is really ridiculous,” says SP Member of Parliament Renske Leijten, the party's spokeswoman on sport. “Is the European Commission going to start picking the teams? I urge the government to take a stand against this idiotic meddling from Brussels.”

29 May 2008

SP congratulates Irish ambassador on referendum

Now that the proposal for a referendum in the Netherlands on the Treaty of Lisbon will probably not succeed, the Irish are the only people in Europe who will have the opportunity to express their view through a popular vote. SP Members of Parliament Harry van Bommel and Sharon Gesthuizen are therefore planning to drop in on the Irish ambassador at 10.30 on Monday morning, 2nd June, to hand over written congratulations.

29 May 2008

Suspended Afghan MP deserves support

On Monday evening SP Member of Parliament Farshad Bashir met with Malalai Joya, a suspended Afghan parliamentarian. Bashir told her that the SP was following her situation closely and attempting to bring it to the attention of the Dutch government.

29 May 2008

SP welcomes near-total ban on cluster munition

SP Member of Parliament and defence spokeswoman Krista van Velzen is “very enthusiastic” over the unexpected turn taken by negotiations, currently taking place in Dublin, on a new treaty governing the use of cluster bombs. Van Velzen, present as an observer at the diplomatic conference where the negotiations are proceeding, says that “many delegations wanted to make the proposed treaty even stronger, although the Netherlands wanted to weaken it somewhat. But after a week and a half of negotiations there was a breakthrough, a sudden realisation that without compromises there would be no treaty at all. Every participating country has now voted for a near-total ban on cluster bombs.”

International