D66 calls for political parties that undermine democracy to be banned

Coalition party D66 has called for the law to be changed to allow political parties to be banned if they ‘undermine the democratic order.’ The progressive-liberal party wants to drop the exemption for political parties in the law that applies to criminal gangs and terrorist organisations, which can be banned if judges decide they threaten the foundations of the Dutch state. The move is clearly aimed at the far-right Forum voor Democratie, which was condemned last month for posting a video on YouTube describing journalists as ‘sewer rats’ and featuring footage of an interview with a parliamentary reporter which was filmed without her consent. D66 parliamentary group leader Jan Paternotte said: ‘It can’t be right that in these days, when you see democracy being challenged everywhere we say that undermining the democratic order is wrong unless you’re a political party.’ The last political party to be outlawed in the Netherlands was the far-right CP ’86, also known as the Centrumpartij, which held one seat in parliament between 1982 and 1986. ‘It’s the exact reason why we need to protect democracy and be able to take measures against organisations that undermine the democratic order.’