Dutch mayor resigns from right-wing government party

Translated from Dutch NOS TV today:

Mayor of Assen resigns from VVD

Assen in the capital of Drenthe province. The pro-Big Business VVD party is the biggest party in the present four-party right-wing government coalition; which has a majority of just one MP in parliament.

Mayor Marco Out of Assen has canceled his VVD membership. He can no longer find himself in the direction of the VVD, he writes in a comprehensive statement on Facebook.

The mayor of the capital of Drenthe says that he, eg, opposes the plan of parliamentary caucus chairman Dijkhoff, to punish people in problem areas more harshly than people in other neighbourhoods. “It completely goes against my sense of justice when a district plan is launched, which suggests that for residents of problem neighborhoods stricter penalties should be applied.”

Out also was appalled by a plan of a VVD MP to abolish the right of the government to pardon asylum seekers who had lost court cases. Recently, the government pardoned the refugee children Lili and Howick, after KLM airline had refused to deport them, saving them from deportation.

Finally, according to Out, came the straw that broke the camel’s back: a proposal by parliamentary caucus chairman Dijkhoff to ban demonstrations against the blackface character Zwarte Piet (Black Pete). Zwarte Piet, according to the protesters, is a racist blot on the Saint Nicholas 5 December holiday.

Out had been a VVD member for over 25 years.