Minister Ernst Kuipers (Public Health, D66) and Karien van Gennip (Social Affairs, CDA) are considering going after a tweet sent Saturday by Forum for Democracy MP Pepijn van Houwelingen, in which he photoshopped a Nazi flag in a photo of the two ministers. . Kuipers speaks on Sunday in a short statement on Twitter of ‘a new low in the treatment of administrators and politicians’. A spokesperson for VWS did not know whether a report is possible.
Jan Paternotte from D66 also has Sunday via Twitter expressed his dissatisfaction with Van Houwelingen’s action. The party leader will submit a complaint to the Integrity Investigation Board of the House of Representatives, because he believes that the FVD member has violated the code of conduct for MPs. He is concerned with the rule that MPs do not do things that damage the authority or dignity of the House. “This action does just that, damage our office.”
The reason for the anger is a photoshopped image that Van Houwelingen posted on Twitter on Saturday evening. On Friday, Kuipers posted a photo in which he and Van Gennip hoisted the flag of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). Van Houwelingen replaced that flag with a Nazi flag. He has since deleted his Twitter post. Paternotte calls it “devastating” that the FVD member “endangers the security of ministers in this way”.
Earlier this month, the Integrity Investigation Board did not consider itself competent to impose a sentence on FVD leader Thierry Baudet. Eight party leaders had filed a complaint against Baudet, because he would still refuse to register his additional functions and would not report his extra income and gifts. According to their own code of conduct, members of the House of Representatives are obliged to do so. Baudet was reprimanded in March this year because he had not given up his additional positions.