Populist politician Wilders takes aim at Dutch queen | Reuters on Astini News
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THE HAGUE (Reuters) - Dutch populist politician Geert Wilders has targeted immigrants, Islam, overpaid bankers and euro zone bailouts with many of his proposed policies: now he has set his sights on the Dutch monarch, Queen Beatrix.
Wilders' Freedom Party -- the third-largest in parliament after the 2010 election and the minority coalition government's main ally -- Thursday announced details of its proposed law to strip the Dutch monarchy of all political powers, leaving it with a purely ceremonial role.
"This is about modernising the monarchy," Wilders told reporters Thursday.
The proposed law will be studied by the Council of State, then debated and voted on in parliament, where several opposition parties want the monarch's political powers curbed.
The queen's political influence centres on her role in appointing a senior politician or politicians -- called the informateur and formateur -- to sound out various parties about forming a coalition government in the event elections produce no outright winner.
After the elections in June 2010, the queen chose a series of informateurs. None were from the Freedom Party.
Queen Beatrix is president of the Council of State, which advises the government on legal matters ranging from drugs policy to financial market regulation.
She's a member of the secretive Bilderberg conference, rubbing shoulders with leading international decision-makers and tycoons, is a high-profile trade ambassador for the Netherlands, and her family wealth was put at about 900 million euros (794 million pounds) in 2010 by Dutch glossy magazine Quote.
"The monarch should remain as the head of state but should be completely independent and should not be connected in any way to political responsibilities," said Andre Elissen of the Freedom Party, adding "I think we can get a majority."
Queen Beatrix's speeches show she is no fan of Wilders' anti-Islam, anti-immigration agenda or his blunt talk.
"Social cohesion often used to be taken for granted in the Netherlands, but in recent years we have realised that it is not a given. Even in the past, constant efforts were required to keep conflicts and differences of opinion under control. This is even more necessary today," she said in a speech last year.
"It's ideological and a clash of personalities," said Andre Krouwel, a political scientist at Amsterdam's Free University.
"Of all the royal families in Europe, they are quite involved in policy areas. He's being very democratic, saying 'who is this and why should a queen decide how a government is made'."
A poll published by Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf last month showed 52 percent thought the queen should not keep her current powers, while 46 percent wanted the status quo.
The minority coalition said late last year it saw no reason to change the monarch's role, but several opposition parties in parliament do favour reducing the monarch's political influence -- including Labour, which is the second-largest in parliament, D66, GreenLeft, and the Animal Party.
"The Left should support him (Wilders) because they want to take away formal powers in forming a government. Logically the Left would have to support him or they will be exposed as hypocrites," said Krouwel.
(Reporting by Sara Webb; Editing by Matthew Jones)
