The party leader of the PVV in the Senate, Marjolein Faber, is no longer allowed to speak at the General Political Reflections. Chairman Jan Anthonie Bruijn cut her off after she asked Prime Minister Rutte if “the fifth column isn’t actually sitting behind the government table”.

The term “fifth column” refers to groups working covertly for an enemy and undermining a country. Faber used the term because, in her opinion, “the Dutch people feel betrayed”. Brown thought that was going too far.

He asked her to retract the comment, but she declined. According to Faber, she only asked one question. The chairman then decided to cut her off. “I noticed that you used strongly insulting language towards our guest.” According to Bruijn, the PVV party leader already insulted during the debate.

Abundant support for the President

Faber’s party colleague Alexander van Hattem requested a roll-call vote on Bruijn’s decision, but it showed a large Senate majority supporting the leader. A proposal to suspend the debate also failed.

After that, the deliberations and the debate on the government’s budget memorandum continued. According to a Senate spokesman, another member of the PVV party can still speak during the debate, but the question is whether this will happen. After the chairperson’s decision, all five group members left the room.

Faber also had a dispute with the previous Senate chairwoman Ankie Broekers-Knol. He intervened when the senator described her colleagues as “false representatives of the people”. Broekers then declared this comment “not okay” and called it “the ax to the root of democracy”.

spy

Thierry Baudet of the Forum for Democracy was recently stripped of his floor in the House of Representatives after he accused Finance Minister Kaag of being a spy. Angered by the proposal, the entire cabinet left the meeting room.

During the deliberations in the Senate, the cabinet members present remained seated when Faber made her controversial statements.