The PS fears that in the event of a subsequent pandemic, the health minister could take any measures he deems necessary at the time, despite parliamentary scrutiny. Today, Health Minister Kuipers defends his pandemic law, the amendment to the public health law. SP Member of Parliament Maarten Hijink fears that Kuipers still sees a curfew or a corona entrance fee as a solution.
“Our problem with the curfew is that it will be possible again through this law, but it’s not explicitly stated,” Hijink says. MP SP has problems with the amendment to the law, he believes that it allows the minister to take any measures he deems necessary at the time. “So the curfew or the coronavirus entrance fee can still be reintroduced through the back door without him explicitly putting it into law.”
emergency jumps
“I do not trust this article and this law in this way. We have seen that last year the cabinet, and which has already started with Minister De Jonge, made a lot of use of emergency procedures and emergency leaps, we want to get rid of them. Then you shouldn’t include in this law an article urging you to use all kinds of emergency powers at the last minute.”
According to Hijink, the difficulty of this law is that on the one hand it gives the parliament more say, but on the other it contains “a kind of bazooka, a kind of magic wand” with which the minister can introduce all kinds of measures ‘without that word democratic’.
Panic football
Nor does Hijink hope the press conferences will end in law, he sees it as a form of football panic; “We have been extremely harassed by the management from press conference to press conference, they have always used emergency procedures. That means last-minute decisions that you only hear during the press conference. This is crisis politics that you shouldn’t want.’
Source: BNR
Fernando Dowling is an author and political journalist who writes for 24 News Globe. He has a deep understanding of the political landscape and a passion for analyzing the latest political trends and news.
