Dutch lawmakers back coronavirus curfew despite criticism

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — A majority of Dutch lawmakers backed the government’s planned curfew Thursday, despite fierce criticism from some opposition legislators.

The four parties that make up the ruling coalition and several opposition parties backed a curfew from 9 p.m. to 4:30 a.m. — shifting the start a half hour later than originally planned. The measure likely will come into force Saturday.

The government on Thursday also announced an extension of financial support measures to business, pumping an extra 7.6 billion euros ($9.2 billion) into efforts to prop up ailing businesses and protect jobs amid the crippling economic downturn caused by the pandemic and lockdown.

Prime Minister Mark Rutte said a curfew is needed to rein in the spread of COVID-19, but some opposition lawmakers angrily denounced it as an excessive restriction of liberties.

Rutte said that medical experts have warned the government that the threat of more contagious variants “is so serious that you have to impose this terrible measure of a curfew in addition to the existing lockdown measures.”

Geert Wilders, leader of the largest opposition party, called the proposed curfew “a sign of utter impotence and panic” from the government.

“We are being imprisoned at home on the orders of Mark Rutte. If you leave home without his permission, you get a fine. We are losing our freedom en masse and that is no fun. Believe me, I know what I’m talking about,” said Wilders who has for years lived under round-the-clock security because of death threats prompted by his strident anti-Islam policies.

The lengthy parliamentary debate underscored growing frustration at months of restrictions intended to tackle the pandemic, which has killed more than 13,000 people in the Netherlands.

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