Dutch Minister of Justice wants to reduce corona fines ….

An upset Minister of Justice and Security Ferdinand Grapperhaus has gone through the dust in the Dutch parliament, after new photos show that corona rules were violated at his wedding. During his apology, he shot up. “I misjudged it.” In addition, the minister is considering suddenly relaxing penalties for violations after his own miss.

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The CDA minister said he has canceled the original wedding plan to keep it small and safe. “I misjudged it. People have come too close together, ”said Grapperhaus. “I also misjudged myself. When I saw the photos, I realized: I didn’t do it right myself. ” The minister says he said to his wife: “If only we had celebrated it together.” Then his voice broke.

The minister of justice nevertheless said that he could continue to operate ‘credibly’. “I fully support the corona policy.” Grapperhaus is sorry, he said. “As a minister I should set a good example. All preparations were aimed at making it a safe and beautiful day. ” Grapperhaus will have to talk to enforcers in the coming months. “And I will continue to do so.”

Prime Minister Rutte ‘fully supported’ Grapperhaus: “I am convinced that – especially because he admits the mistake – he will restore authority.” The Prime Minister believes that Grapperhaus did not want to mislead anyone with his earlier statement.

Criticism

The House of Representatives is critical of the issue. During the debate, the coalition mainly made a point of its credibility. The opposition pressured the cabinet to ease penalties for violations. Grapperhaus said there are solutions “conceivable” for noting someone’s criminal record after a violation.

He wants to discuss this with the House of Representatives. There is also an option to reduce the fine to under 100 euros. As a result, there is in any case no note on someone’s criminal record. For young people, the fine is already below 100 euros. Grapperhaus says he wants to seriously investigate whether the amount of the corona fine can be lowered for everyone. He thereby leaves the door ajar for change. That is remarkable. At the end of May, the minister wrote to the Lower House that he did not want to change the corona rules. At the time, the cabinet did not want to make an exception when it comes to a note in the criminal record, because ‘inequality’ had to be prevented.

Credibility

Critical MPs do believe that it can happen to anyone that the 1.5 meters distance is lost sight of. According to them, the pain lies precisely in the fact that it now concerns the minister who must be able to credibly justify the corona policy and impose it on others. Grapperhaus talked about ‘a visible dent’ he sustained. “We have a common responsibility, I failed to do so.”

PVV leader Wilders thinks the minister has lost his authority: “Not with the boas, but with a lot of people in the Netherlands. Trust comes on foot and goes on horseback. ” The leader of the largest opposition party thinks that Grapperhaus should give up his portfolio in the field of corona matters. “The national interest requires a minister who does not have to regain trust day in and day out.”

SP leader Marijnissen has difficulty with the fact that the minister did not immediately tell the truth after the photos appeared. In the end, opposition parties came up with a motion of censure. SGP did not support it. The CDA minister said that hugs at his wedding had been replaced by elbows. However, photos show the minister embracing his mother-in-law.

Photo’s

Last week, the first photos of the wedding, which took place on August 22 in Bloemendaal, were released. On Tuesday evening, new photos showed that the minister himself also ignored the corona rules. The wedding of Grapperhaus and Liesbeth Wytzes was celebrated by State Secretary for Justice Broekers-Knol. The minister said during the debate that more photos will emerge showing that the corona rules on his marriage have been violated. “But at some point I have to dust myself off and on.”

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