AMSTERDAM — Maxime Verhagen, the parliamentary party leader of the Christian Democrat Party (CDA), and MP Geert Wilders have angrily rejected a claim they are guilty of rabble-rousing in the debate over Islam and Sharia Law.
The accusation has been levelled against them by researcher Jan Schoonenboom of the Netherlands Scientific Council for Government Policy (WRR). Schoonenboom has spoken out against Verhagen’s call to ban any political parties that advocate Sharia in the Netherlands.
“We call for Islamic schools and Islamic parties as long as they adhere to Dutch law and Dutch values and norms. But we cannot tolerate Islamic lawmaking alongside the Dutch [law],” Verhagen said.
Wilders also criticised the WRR’s findings. “I maintain that Islam is incompatible with democracy,” he said and he accused the WRR report of imperilling his right to exist. The politician also questioned the statement by Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende that Islam is not a danger. “No danger? Islam is the biggest danger in the world,” Wilders said.
See also Radio Netherlands, 11 April 2006