Netherlands: Labour party to launch offensive against ‘Wilders cabinet’

The Labour party (PvdA) has accepted it will be in opposition and is planning a major offensive against the expected right-wing government, the Telegraaf reports on Friday, quoting an internal party document.

According to the secret plan, entitled “opposition strategy”, Labour is to go all out on countering what it calls the “Wilders cabinet”.

The right-wing Liberals, Christian Democrats and anti-Islam PVV expect to resume their coalition negotiations next week.

“It will be up to us to expose the tensions within this coalition and cause the cabinet problems,” the Telegraaf quotes the document as saying.

The right-wing cabinet will have just 76 of the 150 seats in parliament and a number of CDA MPs are opposed to any alliance with Geert Wilders’ PVV.

The document, which was discussed by MPs at a secret meeting last week, also outlines how the PvdA will mobilise voters against the right-wing cabinet.

“The right-wing policy of destruction will lead to a lot of opposition in society at large,” the document says. “We will not be in opposition in The Hague alone, but in a close alliance with social movements, environmentalists, the elderly and youth organisations. We will actively look for those alliances.”

Dutch News, 10 September 2010

See also “Wilders ‘can say what he likes’ at Ground Zero”, Dutch News, 10 September 2010