The CDA wants the ability to ban anti-democratic parties, and the cabinet is also in favor. A law regulating this will soon be sent to the House. Experts briefed and advised the House on the matter today.
And it’s not undemocratic to ban an undemocratic party, says Pieter Heerma, parliamentary party leader of the CDA. “It’s the first reaction people often have from the gut, and it’s very understandable,” he explains. ‘But if you look at the places where democracy has been replaced by dictatorship, it’s often the result of the decision to abolish democracy. And that’s a different decision than anyone else in a democracy, because it can never be reversed.’
Banning parties that want to overthrow democracy seems contradictory, but it ultimately protects democracy.
Heerma takes Germany as an example, where it is constitutionally established that democracy cannot be abolished democratically. Furthermore, it is possible to ban parties that overthrow democracy and aim for dictatorship. “And that sounds contradictory, but it ultimately protects democracy.”
‘cannot be seen separately’
According to Heerma, democracy, the rule of law and freedom cannot be considered separately. “So it is necessary to ensure that democracy and a democratic constitutional state are protected for the current generation, but also for children and grandchildren,” she continues. “In the end, this means that parties that want to overthrow democracy, and therefore want to bury freedom, must be cut off.”
In the House of Representatives, people do not want to talk about a good idea, but about an extreme means, knows political journalist Leendert Beekman. “Everyone seems to be struggling about how to protect a democracy without compromising democratic principles,” he says. “Both experts and Members of Parliament.”
Extremes
According to Beekman, experts want to have the option of a ban in extreme cases. “For example, if a party wants to introduce sharia law, or therefore wants to abolish democracy,” he continues. “Take a communist party, for example, or when a Nazi party enters parliament.”
Heerma had already made the original proposal in 2014, and then saw the motion in question pass. There was also a long debate at the time. “Most parties then said that it was a hypothetical discussion and that there were no parties that wanted to abolish democracy,” Heerma explains. “My position then was that that discussion should be held now, because even Germany was too late to cut out the fascist party that had come to power at that time.”
State Commission
A State Committee for Parliamentary Democracy was also established in 2018, under the leadership of Johan Remkes, which issued an opinion in line with Heerma’s motion. ‘And with that he confirmed what all the experts were saying today: This should be possible at the end of the day,’ concludes Heerma. ‘And that eventually ended up in legislation now being sent to the House from the Cabinet. So it took a long time, but nothing came of it.’
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.
