opposing Islam central tenet of Dutch Freedom Party

The last Dutch party to present its election manifesto, the anti-Islam Freedom Party (PVV) headed by Geert Wilders, has said it will focus on “more security and less immigration”. The manifesto was published on Friday in The Hague, ahead of the national elections on 9 June.

The right-wing populist party leader repeated his party’s well-known slogans. Mr Wilders wants to achieve “more security” by recruiting an additional 10,000 policemen. “Less immigration” should be realised by imposing an annual quota of 1,000 on asylum seekers, and a ban on immigration from Muslim countries. Non-Dutch residents who commit a crime should be extradited, in the PVV’s view. Earlier proposals, such as a headscarf tax and a ban on burqas and the Qur’an are repeated in the manifesto.

Radio Netherlands, 23 April 2010