Yearbook 2006
Netherlands. In May, Somali-born MP Ayaan Hirsi Ali
resigned after Immigration Minister Rita Verdonk - her party
mate in the right-wing Liberal Democratic Alliance -
threatened to withdraw her citizenship. Verdonk's threat
came after TV reports that Hirsi Ali was lying about his
background in his asylum application in 1992. Hirsi Ali was
known as a screenwriter for a film about Muslim women's
vision that triggered the notable murder of filmmaker Theo
van Gogh in 2004.
According to
CountryAAH, Verdonk's swift action after the TV documentary also met
with criticism within the government and eventually led to
its collapse. It did not help that Verdonk regretted and
stated that she found a loophole in the law that allowed
Hirsi Ali to retain her citizenship. The government's
smallest party, the left-wing Liberal D66, dropped out of
government cooperation in late June. The dropout led to the
announcement of new elections until November. The Christian
Democratic CDA and the right-wing Liberal Democrats remained
in a minority government until then. The electoral movement
came primarily to deal with financial issues. It was
expected to benefit the sitting government because the
economy was strong: growth increased and unemployment
decreased. But the election result was difficult to
interpret. Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende's CDA
admittedly held his place as the largest party in
parliament, but lost some mandate. The VVD backed a lot.
However, so did the main opponent of the bourgeois
government, the Social Democratic Labor Party. At the same
time, the Socialist Party SP became the big winner. SP
almost tripled its mandate and became the third largest
party, before the VVD. Among other small parties, a newly
formed animal rights party received two mandates. Government
negotiations often drag on time in the Netherlands and since
the election results were unusually difficult to interpret,
it was expected to take a long time before it is clear which
parties will form the next government. Among other small
parties, a newly formed animal rights party received two
mandates. Government negotiations often drag on time in the
Netherlands and since the election results were unusually
difficult to interpret, it was expected to take a long time
before it is clear which parties will form the next
government. Among other small parties, a newly formed animal
rights party received two mandates. Government negotiations
often drag on time in the Netherlands and since the election
results were unusually difficult to interpret, it was
expected to take a long time before it is clear which
parties will form the next government.
The trial against members of the terrorist-suspected
Islamist Hofstadt group ended in March. The Hague Court
found nine members guilty of membership in a terrorist
organization. Two were also found guilty of attempted murder
and received thirteen and fifteen years in prison
respectively. The others were sentenced to shorter
sentences. Mohammed Bouyeri was found to have been a leader
of the group but received no new sentence as he was already
sentenced to life for the murder of filmmaker van Gogh.
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