Tuesday, November 09, 2004

Belgian Political Party Declared illegal

According to the BBC:
Belgian's highest court has ruled that the Flemish far-right Vlaams Blok party is racist. The ruling means the Blok will lose access to state funding and access to television which will, in effect, shut down the party... Recent opinion polls suggest the Vlaams Blok is the most popular party in the Dutch-speaking region of Flanders. It garnered almost a quarter of votes in regional and European elections in June.
So what's scarier: that a far-right party is garnering 25% of the vote or that a party that garners 25% of the vote can be outlawed in a supposedly free society? Hmmm. I thought it was America's democracy that was teetering on the edge.

Of course, it's hard to tell how far-right this party really is. After all, one gets the feeling that the folks at the BBC think the Republican party is far-right.

No comments: