Posted on 07/07/2002 12:51:57 AM PDT by TheMole
The new centre-right Cabinet is likely to question the tolerance shown towards soft drugs, gay issues and euthanasia
AMSTERDAM - Holland's liberal lifestyle is under threat from its new centre-right government, which is planning to review the status of the country's drug cafes and laws that allow same-sex marriage and euthanasia.
Dutch Christian Democrat (CDA) leader Jan Peter Balkenende set about forming a new government at the weekend, seven weeks after May's legislative election which was overshadowed by the murder of populist politician Pim Fortuyn.
Mr Balkenende, a 46-year-old Harry Potter lookalike, has two weeks in which to appoint his Cabinet.
He has already outlined his political vision, which includes tough policies on immigration, crime and state welfare.
He has pledged to tighten controls on 'drug-cafe culture' by restricting the open sale of marijuana, The Guardian newspaper reported.
He will also review a euthanasia law which allows doctors to end patients' lives under strictly controlled circumstances.
In a 45-page policy document, Mr Balkenende has also promised to step up police patrols on the streets, insist on the carrying of identity papers and take a tougher stand against drug trafficking.
He has also floated a policy 'to get people back to work' with a 40-per-cent cut in the number of workers receiving disability payments.
About 900,000 workers, or one in five of the labour force, are on disability pensions, many of them for psychological ailments, according to The Guardian.
Nearly 10 per cent of the nation's 16 million residents are non-Western immigrants.
It is expected that newcomers who fail to complete Dutch language and citizenship classes may find themselves facing penalties - one of the late Mr Fortuyn's key demands.
There will also be curbs on migrants bringing relatives from abroad and action against businesses employing illegal immigrants.
After eight years on the opposition benches watching the ruling centre-left push through liberal laws on prostitution and same-sex marriage, the philosophy professor is now in a better position to push the nation closer to his party's Christian roots.
Dutch governments have been dominated by the Labour party and its allies on the left for the past 25 years.
But CDA ended up the biggest winner in the May 15 election with 43 seats in the 150-member Parliament.
Together with the Liberal party (VVD) and the Pim Fortuyn List (LFP), it holds 93 of the 150 seats in the lower house.
The Guardian report said 11 of the EU's 15 governments now belong to the centre-right.
The German election next September, when Social Democratic Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder will face a strong challenge from the conservative Mr Edmund Stoiber, seems likely to conform to the pattern, said the British paper.
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The get-tough agenda
He has promised to step up police patrols on the streets, insist on the carrying of identity papers and take a tougher stand against drug trafficking.
The Christian Democrat leader has also floated a policy 'to get people back to work' with a 40-per-cent cut in the number of workers receiving disability payments.
There will also be curbs on migrants bringing relatives from abroad and action against businesses employing illegal immigrants.
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