Politicians: Saving their own skins instead of those of the seals
I'm completely flabbergasted by the short-sightedness and small mindedness of the Dutch political world. This morning Socialist Party MP Krista van Velzen tabled a really good resolution for a national ban on the trade and import of seal fur and other products. This was undersigned by the Green Party (GroenLinks) too. At the Bont voor Dieren office, we sat glued to the computer following the lively parliamentary debate that ensued.
To cut a long story short, van Velzen's resolution upset two other MPs of the Labour Party and the right wing VVD (People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy), who are currently drafting a proposal for an legislative act to achieve the same aim. This resolution would have cut a load of corners in terms of political process and have achieved a ban more quickly.
Unfortunately, political games were being played at the seals expense. The 2 politicians who wanted to submit their own bill decided to save their own skins instead of those of the seals and torpedoed Van Velzen's resolution, by saying that it 'didn't go far enough'. I helped draft the bloody thing, so I can't possibly see what was missing!!! Interestingly enough, it is these very politicians that have been invited to observe the seal hunt by IFAW.
In the meantime, probably just to piss all the left-wing parties off, Wien van den Brink, one of the idiots from the LPF (List Pim Fortuyn) and a known hunter, submitted his own resolution to encourage the Canadians to seek more animal-friendly methods of killing the seals! Naturally this resolution completely ignored the whole reason why the animals are butchered in the first place. What really took the biscuit is that the labour Party & the VVD supported this resolution. Which is really bloody idiotic given that they are trying to draw up legislation to prevent seal fur and other seal products from entering the Netherlands... perhaps they are just showing their true colours.
To cut a long story short, van Velzen's resolution upset two other MPs of the Labour Party and the right wing VVD (People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy), who are currently drafting a proposal for an legislative act to achieve the same aim. This resolution would have cut a load of corners in terms of political process and have achieved a ban more quickly.
Unfortunately, political games were being played at the seals expense. The 2 politicians who wanted to submit their own bill decided to save their own skins instead of those of the seals and torpedoed Van Velzen's resolution, by saying that it 'didn't go far enough'. I helped draft the bloody thing, so I can't possibly see what was missing!!! Interestingly enough, it is these very politicians that have been invited to observe the seal hunt by IFAW.
In the meantime, probably just to piss all the left-wing parties off, Wien van den Brink, one of the idiots from the LPF (List Pim Fortuyn) and a known hunter, submitted his own resolution to encourage the Canadians to seek more animal-friendly methods of killing the seals! Naturally this resolution completely ignored the whole reason why the animals are butchered in the first place. What really took the biscuit is that the labour Party & the VVD supported this resolution. Which is really bloody idiotic given that they are trying to draw up legislation to prevent seal fur and other seal products from entering the Netherlands... perhaps they are just showing their true colours.
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