Posted on 11/09/2004 4:20:38 PM PST by traumer
Belgium's highest court has ruled that the country's Flemish nationalist party, the Vlaams Blok, is racist.
The decision means that Europe's most successful far-right party will be forced to disband - and re-form under a new name.
The ruling - confirming an appeals court judgment that the party was guilty of racism and discrimination - means that the Vlaams Blok can no longer benefit from state financing, while anyone who continues to work for it will henceforth be committing an offence.
A quarter of voters in Flanders, the Dutch-speaking northern half of Belgium, support its policies - independence from Belgium and repatriation of immigrants, especially Muslims.
Growing popularity
Its popularity has surged relentlessly - from 10.4% in 1991, to 12.3% in 1995, 15.4% in 1999, and 18% in 2003.
This year's 24.1% in the Flemish regional election included 250,000 extra voters compared to the previous year and made it the biggest single party.
It is kept out of power only by the so-called "cordon sanitaire", an agreement among all the mainstream parties to exclude it from any coalition government.
"I don't think the way of life of Muslims is compatible with our way of life " -Vlaams Blok party leader Filip Dewinter
But many observers believe the cordon sanitaire itself brings the Blok votes. Professor Stefaan Walgrave of Antwerp University says it is precisely the Vlaams Blok's pariah status, perennially kept out of government, that helps to increase its popularity.
This is sick. Talk about the lack of freedom in Belgium. This is precisely what the left wanted.
Welcome to state funded thought police!!!
Got Hillary!
well there goes belgium ... over to islam
This is how communists gain power. They declare all other parties "illegal".
So when will the ETA, IRA, Sinn Fein, Plaid Cymru, and the Scottish National Party be outlawed?
And DNC lawyers are now studying it for application here in America.
Got Hillary! ??
They don't use always the same tactic. In Holland they murdere Pim Fortuyn, five days before the elections.
Freak what the people want. The courts know better.
What I'm concerned about is if the liberal party in Canada would try to do the same thing to our party.
Then they b*tch about Mussolini and fascism (only one legal poltical party--how dare they!).
I was going to say...the Republican Party (under liberal terms) would've been disbanned years ago.
The single biggest party in Belgium. Think about that.
The New Vlaams Blok?
Vlaams Blokmania?
Keep denying the truth, and eventually the truth will bite you in the ass.
When the State no longer serves the will of the people, extraordinary measures are called for. If 24% percent of the people rose up and made a few changes in the judiciary, the direction of the country might change.
The Left will now be emboldened to do the same here.
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