{Dutch far-right politician Geert Wilders hands out “self-defence sprays” to women, as his Freedom Party soars in polls.}<\/p>\n
Dutch anti-immigrant politician Geert Wilders has handed out self-defence sprays to women fearful of what he described as “Islamic testosterone bombs”.<\/p>\n
The publicity stunt, which occurred in the town of Spijkenisse near Rotterdam on Saturday, came in the wake of the New Year’s Eve sexual assaults in Cologne.<\/p>\n
Wilders, surrounded by bodyguards and police, visited a market to hand out the sprays, which contained red paint.<\/p>\n
Amid stalls selling vegetables, fish, flowers and bicycle parts, Wilders got a rock star welcome from dozens of supporters, while a small group of protesters chanted and waved placards, including one that read, “Refugees are welcome, racism is not”.<\/p>\n
The Freedom Party leader said that, if elected, he would “close the borders immediately and have no more asylum seekers. We just cannot afford to have more”.<\/p>\n
“The Dutch people in a big majority don’t want it … It makes our people and women more unsafe,” Wilders added.<\/p>\n
Leontine Maris was one of the first women to get the spray from Wilders on Saturday.<\/p>\n
The 53-year-old said she votes for him though she disagrees with some of his more extreme comments. She said she was afraid not just of migrants, but also Dutch men.<\/p>\n
“The whole society is going down the drain,” she said.<\/p>\n
‘Racist, not feminist’<\/p>\n
A small group of protesters awaited the right-wing politician, shouting slogans such as “Wilders is a racist, not a feminist”.<\/p>\n
Ten of the female protesters were arrested for not having permission to demonstrate, Dutch media reported.<\/p>\n
Student Kim Van de Kant, 22, was one of the women who protested against Wilders on Saturday.<\/p>\n
“We wanted to show that Spijkenisse residents are not only Wilders supporters, even though the majority at the marketplace loves him,” Van de Kant told Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n
According to Van de Kant, Wilders’ fans were disappointed by his short visit. “Besides that, the 70 sprays that he gave away ran out quite quickly.”<\/p>\n
Soaring poll numbers<\/p>\n
The stunt in Spijkenisse fits into Wilders’ uncompromising anti-immigrant, anti-Islam rhetoric that has propelled him to the top of Dutch opinion polls, just over a year away from parliamentary elections.<\/p>\n
As Wilders’ popularity soars on the back of disenchantment over immigration, Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s two-party coalition is in a slump, losing ground mainly to Wilders.<\/p>\n
Wilders’ party currently holds 12 seats in the 150-member lower house, but a poll by Ipsos on Thursday suggested the Freedom Party would win 32 seats now.<\/p>\n
Rutte’s Liberals were second with 26 seats, down from its current tally of 40.<\/p>\n
Other polls have Wilders even further ahead.<\/p>\n
Source:Al Jazeera:Wilders: [Migrant men are ‘Islamic testosterone bombs’->http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2016\/01\/wilders-migrant-men-islamic-testosterone-bombs-160123142600813.html]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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