Lazrak stays
It seems like Mr. Lazrak has decided to establish his own political party and to keep his seat in parliament. He was expelled from the far-left Socialist Party last Monday after he directed harsh criticism to Mr. Marijnissen, the party's leader, and after a disagreement on the donation of his salary to the party.
Of course, he has the right to do so. Formally he was elected on a personal title, and he has the constitutional right to stay in parliament. It healthy for intra-party politics if all the members of a political faction are sure of their seat, and don't run the risk of loosing their position if they disagree with the majority.
However, it is unfortunate that Lazrak decided to stay. I don't think his one-man faction will have a lot of added value to the Dutch parliament. He himself acknowledged that the disagreements between him and the party are not based on policy; in fact he said that he would almost always vote with the Socialist Party. Also, it is virtually certain that he won't be elected if there would be elections now, nor in a few years.
I would say: do the decent thing and give the seat back to the party.
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Lazrak stays
i agree with you guus
Lazrak stays
Based on what do you feel he should give back his seat to the party?
He is elected because he is/was number x on the list, so he has the right to stay there.
I think there is way more going on in the socialist party.
I've heard that Marijnessen is close to a dictator and to be honest I wouldn't be surprised if he was.
He looks the nice gentleman when he talks to the media, but I think he is much different during closed meetings.
He is the abolute leader of the party and people lower in the organisation are shivering when he speaks.
Lazrak stays
Oh certainly: he has the right to stay in parliament.
If he would have disagreed with the party on serious political issues then this would also be appropriate. Then he should stay in parliament and defend his own opinion. That's a foundation of our representive democracy, and I believe it's very important to have a counter-balance against (strong) party pressure.
However.
It is clear that the disagreements between him and his party are not based on policy at all. He says he would like to stay member of the Socialist Party, and if he'd be on his own in parliament he would most likely always vote with the Socialist Party (SP). This indicates that he still believes in the SP's political ideas. The added value of a separate party that votes with the SP would be 0, and in fact cause a lot of unnecessary overhead (speaking time etc).
I don't know if Mr. Marijnissen acts like a dictator in his party. Maybe he does, maybe he doesn't. It seems like the members of his party and parliamentary faction agree with his style of working, and that Mr. Lazrak has isolated himself. Ultimately it's up to the voters to decide on the style, or perceived style, of a party.
Lazrak stays
I would rather say that if he disagreed on political issues with his party that he should then give up his seat.
In that case he was elected on an unfair basis.
But that is not the case.
He was more or less kicked out of the party because he feld it was party rules were unfair and Marijnissen was being rude to other members.
Remember that Marijnissen says that he donates his salary to the party to receive a modest salary back, but he has other earnings like being guest speaker and he writes books.
The money he makes with that isn't donated to the party while he only is in that position because of the party.
That is a bit unfair to me too.
Lazrak just wanted to make a statement, because he rather remained part of the club.
No he is out of the party and has to move on by himself.
Lazrak stays
Een fraaie observatie van Marije (een PvdA raadslid in Leiden):
"Als je je negen Kamerleden al niet kunt overtuigen van nivellering van salarissen tot in het extreme, moet je daar dan in je verkiezingsprogramma nog voor pleiten?"
Lazrak stays
Een overzicht van de gebeurtenissen op de SP website:
"Verslag omtrent Lazrak".