Dutch wannabe wolf-killing fraudster politician quarrels with his party

This video is called National Geographic Live! : Jim & Jamie Dutcher: The Hidden Life of Wolves.

In 2013, Johan Houwers, Rightist MP for the VVD, the biggest Dutch government party, was in the news because he advocated the killing of wolves in the Netherlands following the discovery of a dead wolf at Luttelgeest. More recently, a live young female wolf came from Germany to the Netherlands, and went back.

In 2013, Houwers resigned from parliament.

That was because Houwers was in the news for other reasons than wolves: his financial fraud.

Translated from NOS TV in the Netherlands:

Coalition loses seat again, VVD speaks of robbery of MP’s seat

Today, 13:42

He was no longer welcome in the VVD, and therefore Johan Houwers becomes an independent MP. That he has announced today. Only next week he will give an explanation.

Houwers takes over the vacant seat of from Mark Verheijen, who resigned because he has been discredited because of an integrity issue.

Mortgage fraud

Houwers had already previously been an MP for the VVD, but he resigned last year because he was suspected of mortgage fraud. He has already been fined for that.

Caucus Chairman Zijlstra said last week that there is no place for fraudsters in the VVD. Now Houwers has decided nevertheless to take his seat in parliament, the coalition of VVD and [junior partner] PvdA loses a seat and thus has only 76 seats [out of 150] left. That’s just enough for a majority.

Whether the decision by Houwers will matter much for the support of the government is not yet clear. …

Robbery of MP’s seat

Yet he will be expelled as a member of the VVD. Zijlstra speaks of robbery of an MP’s seat, but he can not deny that Houwers is legally entitled to the seat.

Also coalition partner PvdA in this period already lost two seats. MPs Kuzu and Ozturk left the group after a dispute over the multicultural society policies of PvdA Minister Asscher.

In the Dutch ‘Eerste Kamer‘, the Senate, the VVD-PvdA coalition never had a majority. Yesterday, the Dutch electorate made that problem for the government even worse. There were provincial elections. VVD and PvdA both lost. Provincial assemblies are the electoral college for voting for a new Senate later this year. VVD and PvdA together are expected to get only 21 of 75 seats in the new Eerste Kamer.

VVD MP Leegte resigns in financial scandal: here.

David Attenborough backs calls for the reintroduction of wolves to Scottish highlands: here.