Geert Wilders withdraws 2018 proposal to ban mosques and Qur’an

• Geert Wilders withdraws legislation proposed in 2018.
• Wilders hinted at a softening of his party’s anti-Islam stance in a parliamentary debate.
• The three laws were proposed in 2017, 2018, and 2019.

Geert Wilders announced on Monday that he is withdrawing legislation proposed in 2018 that called for a ban on mosques and the Qur’an.

The decision, made a day before the resumption of talks to form the next government following the November election, is seen as a crucial move to garner trust and support from three mainstream parties that Wilders aims to include in a coalition with his Party for Freedom (PVV).

One of the leaders of these parties, Pieter Omtzigt of the reformist New Social Contract, has expressed concerns about some of Wilders’ policies potentially violating the Dutch Constitution, which upholds liberties, including freedom of religion.

Parliament debate:

In a parliamentary debate last year, after the PVV secured 37 seats in the 150-seat lower house of the Dutch parliament in the November 22 general election, Wilders hinted at a softening of his party’s strident anti-Islam stance.

“Sometimes I will have to withdraw proposals and I will do that,” Wilders said in the debate. “I will show the Netherlands, the legislature, Mr. Omtzigt’s party — anybody who wants to hear it — that we will adapt our rules to the constitution and bring our proposals in line with it.”

On Tuesday, Geert Wilders plans to resume coalition talks with Pieter Omtzigt and the leaders of two other parties—the center-right People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy, led by outgoing Prime Minister Mark Rutte, and the Farmer Citizen Movement, led by Caroline van der Plas.

Among three pieces of legislation axed by Wilders Party for Freedom was one dating back to 2018 that proposes banning “Islamic expressions.” The text of the bill labels Islam a “violent, totalitarian ideology” and proposes bans on mosques, the Qur’an, Islamic schools, and the wearing of burqas and niqabs.

Wilders refrained from providing immediate additional comments on the decision to withdraw the legislation, as announced by his party in a brief statement.

Wilders proposed the three laws to parliament in 2017, 2018, and 2019 but they never secured a majority in the lower house. In an evaluation of the proposed ban on Islamic expressions, the Council of State, an independent watchdog that assesses legislation, urged Wilders to abandon it.

“The Advisory Division advises the initiators to abandon the bill,” the council said in advice published in 2019. “It is not compatible with the core elements of the democratic constitutional state; elements that the initiators intend to protect.”

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