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Dutch coalition brought down by Hirsi Ali dispute
By Ian Bickerton in Amsterdam
Published: June 29 2006 14:34 | Last updated: June 29 2006 21:14
A dispute over the citizenship of Somali-born Ayaan Hirsi Ali brought down the Dutch government on Thursday when D66, the junior member of the centre-right coalition, walked out after demanding the resignation of Rita Verdonk, the hard-line immigration minister.
Jan Peter Balkenende, prime minister, told parliament he would go to Queen Beatrix on Friday to begin the process of consultations that could lead either to his Christian democrat alliance continuing to govern as a minority coalition with Mrs Verdonk’s liberal VVD, or to a snap general election.
The crisis came as two D66 cabinet ministers and a state secretary with the centrist party resigned.It is the second time in less than four years that a government led by Mr Balkenende has collapsed. He told Dutch television news: “It does not affect me that much. I am busy with the future, doing what I believe in.”
Mrs Verdonk had survived a no-confidence vote yesterday, thanks to the support of her liberal VVD and the Christian democrat CDA, but D66, the junior member of the three-party coalition, insisted she resign anyway. Lousewies van der Laan, D66 parliamentary party leader, had said that Jan Peter Balkenende, prime minister, had no option but to ask Queen Beatrix to dissolve the government.
She said: “We are not out to cause a cabinet crisis. It is for the government to decide if they choose for this minister or the cabinet.”
The crisis came as politicians sought to establish whether Ms Hirsi Ali was put under pressure to sign a declaration accepting blame for the citizenship affair, thereby vindicating Mrs Verdonk.
Six weeks ago Mrs Verdonk threatened to strip Ms Hirsi Ali of her citizenship because she gave a false name and age when she applied for asylum in the Netherlands in 1992. That meant her naturalisation five years later was unlawful, Mrs Verdonk said.
Ms Hirsi Ali resigned her seat with the VVD and brought forward the date of a planned departure to the US, where she has been offered a job with the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think-tank.
The affair caused international outrage. The Dutch were branded intolerant and the government was accused of expelling Ms Hirsi Ali.
She had renounced her Muslim faith to campaign against radical Islam, and scripted the film Submission whose director, Theo van Gogh, was murdered, triggering death threats that forced her to live in hiding.
Ordered by the government and parliament to resolve the affair, Mrs Verdonk said on Tuesday that Ms Hirsi Ali could keep her passport. Inquiries had established that she was entitled to use the name Ali because it was her grandfather’s name.
The question of her age was of minor concern. Ms Hirsi Ali had told the VVD in 2002, prior to her selection as an MP, that she had given a false name in her asylum application. Her real name was Magan.
On Tuesday, however, in her declaration, Ms Hirsi Ali said she “regretted misleading” Mrs Verdonk, who she said could not have known the facts.
She later told Dutch television she had signed the declaration for “pragmatic” reasons because resolving the issue speedily was “much more important for me than a bit of pride”. She needed her passport to complete a US visa application.
The centrist D66 threatened to withdraw from the government earlier this year.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2006
By Ian Bickerton in Amsterdam
Published: June 29 2006 14:34 | Last updated: June 29 2006 21:14
A dispute over the citizenship of Somali-born Ayaan Hirsi Ali brought down the Dutch government on Thursday when D66, the junior member of the centre-right coalition, walked out after demanding the resignation of Rita Verdonk, the hard-line immigration minister.
Jan Peter Balkenende, prime minister, told parliament he would go to Queen Beatrix on Friday to begin the process of consultations that could lead either to his Christian democrat alliance continuing to govern as a minority coalition with Mrs Verdonk’s liberal VVD, or to a snap general election.
The crisis came as two D66 cabinet ministers and a state secretary with the centrist party resigned.It is the second time in less than four years that a government led by Mr Balkenende has collapsed. He told Dutch television news: “It does not affect me that much. I am busy with the future, doing what I believe in.”
Mrs Verdonk had survived a no-confidence vote yesterday, thanks to the support of her liberal VVD and the Christian democrat CDA, but D66, the junior member of the three-party coalition, insisted she resign anyway. Lousewies van der Laan, D66 parliamentary party leader, had said that Jan Peter Balkenende, prime minister, had no option but to ask Queen Beatrix to dissolve the government.
She said: “We are not out to cause a cabinet crisis. It is for the government to decide if they choose for this minister or the cabinet.”
The crisis came as politicians sought to establish whether Ms Hirsi Ali was put under pressure to sign a declaration accepting blame for the citizenship affair, thereby vindicating Mrs Verdonk.
Six weeks ago Mrs Verdonk threatened to strip Ms Hirsi Ali of her citizenship because she gave a false name and age when she applied for asylum in the Netherlands in 1992. That meant her naturalisation five years later was unlawful, Mrs Verdonk said.
Ms Hirsi Ali resigned her seat with the VVD and brought forward the date of a planned departure to the US, where she has been offered a job with the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think-tank.
The affair caused international outrage. The Dutch were branded intolerant and the government was accused of expelling Ms Hirsi Ali.
She had renounced her Muslim faith to campaign against radical Islam, and scripted the film Submission whose director, Theo van Gogh, was murdered, triggering death threats that forced her to live in hiding.
Ordered by the government and parliament to resolve the affair, Mrs Verdonk said on Tuesday that Ms Hirsi Ali could keep her passport. Inquiries had established that she was entitled to use the name Ali because it was her grandfather’s name.
The question of her age was of minor concern. Ms Hirsi Ali had told the VVD in 2002, prior to her selection as an MP, that she had given a false name in her asylum application. Her real name was Magan.
On Tuesday, however, in her declaration, Ms Hirsi Ali said she “regretted misleading” Mrs Verdonk, who she said could not have known the facts.
She later told Dutch television she had signed the declaration for “pragmatic” reasons because resolving the issue speedily was “much more important for me than a bit of pride”. She needed her passport to complete a US visa application.
The centrist D66 threatened to withdraw from the government earlier this year.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2006
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