The centre-right’s remarkable comeback in the Netherlands might have stalled due to controversial comments.
The centre-right’s remarkable comeback ahead of Wednesday’s Dutch parliamentary election might have stalled due to controversial comments its party leader made about the rights of a gay pupil.
Henri Bontenbal, a 42-year-old former energy consultant, has resurrected his Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) party from the doldrums, and polls have shown him tied in second place with former European Commissioner Frans Timmermans, who leads a Green-Left alliance.
But Bontenbal came unstuck on a television programme last week, when he suggested that a gay pupil at a publicly funded Christian school could choose to attend another school if he felt uncomfortable about his sexual identity.
The comments went down badly in a country that is proud of its liberal values.
Bontenbal apologised, saying he was human, but polls suggest he lost five out of a healthy 25-seat projection after his comments.
“If he hadn’t made this mistake last week, he very likely would have been on top of all the polls at this point,” said Tom-Jan Meeus, a political reporter at the Dutch newspaper NRC.
