Netherlands: Racism and fascism
01 January 1991
Netherlands: Racism and fascism
artdoc July=1994
Election round-up
Big gains for far-Right in local elections
The Centrum Partie `86 and the Centrum Demokraten have done far
better than anticipated in local elections for 622 local councils
across Holland. If the same voting patterns were repeated at the
general election in May, the Christian-Democrat Labour coalition
government would lose its majority.
The two parties between them took 86 of the 10,014 council
seats contested, a 15- seat gain on the last local elections in
1990. The far-Right did particularly well in Amsterdam,
Rotterdam, Utrecht and the Hague where they scored in the region
of 10 per cent of the vote.
The leader of the Labour party, Wim Kok called it `a black day'
for the country. Hams Janmaat, the CD leader said that the other
parties `can no longer ignore us'. By the next local elections
[in 1998] we will have overtaken the Labour party (Independent
4.3.94.).
CD's election programme
The Centrum Demokraten produced a 10-point programme for the
elections entitled `There's no place like home'. Central to the
programme is the promise to reduce help to minorities,
immigrants and refugees in order to stop `the dilution of Dutch
culture' and to repatriate any immigrant out of work for six
months.
During the election campaign the CD attacked the government for
funding anti-racist groups which the CD claims targets its
meetings for violent confrontation (European 18.2.94).
Opposition to the CD's racist programme came from the largest
trade union, the FNV who made a statement and produced leaflets
for street-distribution advising people to beware of racism (De
Volkskrant 12.2.94).
CD leader faces financial scandal
The leader of the CD, Hans Janmaat is at the centre of
allegations that he has siphoned off government money and a lien
has been placed on his house in the Hague for failing to repay
nearly 10,000 guilders ($50,000) he obtained fraudulently
(European 18.2.94).
Anti-racists in Stein force CD withdrawal
In Stein, Limburg, Centrum Demokraten withdrew from local
elections after anti-racist youth groups put out a press release
urging people not to sign the CD's nomination forms. The youth
groups warned that anyone who nominated the CD (ten nominations
are needed under Dutch electoral law) would have their names
published. One candidate who withdrew from the election race
claimed that he didn't even know that he was running. `Someone
asked me if I would run while I was in a pub having a drink and
then I heard nothing more', he claimed (NN 20.1.94).
Involvement of far-Right in violence:
CP`86 forms security service
The CP`86 has formed a `nationalist security service', the aim
of which is to gather intelligence on left and anti-fascist
targets. The decision follows disturbances at the CP `86 annual
conference and complaints by the nazis that the police failed to
defend them from anti-fascists. The CP `86 say that the security
service will be staffed by those with a martial arts background
and volunteers with experience of military service are
preferred.
The `Nationalistsche Veiligheids Dienst' is led by Van der Bos
who used to be a leading member of the Centrum Demokraten before
disagreements with its leader, Hans Janmaat, compelled him to
leave. According to NN, Van der Boss has been involved in the
recruitment of Dutch mercernaries to Croatia and spent three
months in Croatia as a military adviser. He has written a book
on Croatia in which he advocated the killing of a named
Communist. He is also alleged to be recruiting mercenaries to
fight for the white cause in South Africa.
Profile of CP`86 in Arnhem
A CP`86 demonstration in Arnhem during the run-up to the
elections was banned, alongside a planned anti-fascist counter-
demonstration. The leader of the local party, Constant Kusters,
faces an offensive weapons charge following a police raid o