Moroccan Becomes Mayor of Rotterdam

[saneel]

Ahmed Aboutaleb, a Moroccan-born Dutch politician holding dual citizenship – Dutch as well as Moroccan – has been appointed mayor of Rotterdam, the second largest city in the Netherlands. Aboutaleb, a member of the Dutch Labour party PvdA, is currently secretary of state (deputy minister) of social affairs, and an inhabitant of Amsterdam rather than Rotterdam.

[The Dude]

Heh. Nothing to fear from Aboutaleb really. He seems like a decent fellow.

I understand why people would be wary about it though. Many Dutch don't care for the Moroccan crowd at all, and neither do I. I find them generally rude and offensive with an ego that doesn't suit them.

[pajomife]

Looks like a decent person,but...they always do.:hmmm:
Maybe he is a good fellow.

[Каие]

Looks like a decent person,but...they always do.:hmmm: Maybe he is a good fellow.

No way....

*checks outside window...earth still there...is confused :hmmm:"


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On a serious note, this is completely irrelevant. Him being Muslim is irrelevant, him being a good administrator...that's important.

[Keravnos]

A man should be judged by his actions, not by either his color or his religion. If he is as honest as people seem to think, this is the only thing that should matter. Well Done Netherlands, indeed.

[Primvs Sextvs Loverlord]

A man should be judged by his actions, not by either his color or his religion. If he is as honest as people seem to think, this is the only thing that should matter. Well Done Netherlands, indeed.

Here's how deductive reasoning works in this case:

- Islam is evil, generally speaking.
- Those that follow Islam hence are also evil to a good extent.
- Therefore, all Muslims are evil to a certain extent.


And if you think the above "logic" is flawed to begin with, I can show you people on these forums only who believe it as fact. And I'm not talking about nutty 16 year olds, I'm talking about 20 year olds and above.

[Erik]

I like Aboutaleb, he's one of very few honest politicians.
It's just a shame he became Mayer of Rotterdam, and not Amsterdam where I live.
I can even see him become Prime Minister one day.

One interesting detail: Rotterdam is also the city where Pim Fortuyn came from and where his Nazionalist anti-Islam movement had the most support.
Hopefully this is a sign that the tables have really turned in that city.

[Orko]

It is a proof for how great country the Netherlands id.

[The Cobra]

Is Aboutaleb a Muslim ?

[Erik]

Is Aboutaleb a Muslim ?

Officially, he is.
But he doesn't seen that religious even though his father was an Imam.

He's either a moderate Muslim or an ex-Muslim who keeps his conversion to himself.

[Treize]

The only reason he was choosen was because his is muslim.
The other candidate(cda) was beter to keep the balance of the 3 big party's.
Because the biggest party, CDA has no big city now.

@orko
Could you expain????

[Erik]

The only reason he was choosen was because his is muslim.
The other candidate(cda) was beter to keep the balance of the 3 big party's.
Because the biggest party, CDA has no big city now.

CDA got just 7,7% of the votes in Rotterdam's last local election.
PvdA got 37.4%.

In Amsterdam it's CDA 4,2%, PvdA 39.4%.

Can't find exact figures for The Hague and Utrecht, but the results are very similar there: PvdA is the biggest party, CDA is just a minor party.

Theoretically, the mayor doesn't have to come from the biggest party, he/she doesn't even have to be a politician.
But in practice somebody from the biggest party gets appointed almost every time.

The fact that CDA happens to be the biggest party on a national level because they got lots of support in small religious villages, doesn't and shouldn't play a role here.

So it makes perfect sense that they picked somebody from PvdA.
And Ahmed Aboutaleb is a very straightforward candidate because:
- He served on the city council of Amsterdam before, just one step away from being Mayor himself, so this is a logical career move.
- He got very close to becoming a minister, but was pushed down to "deputy minister" on the very last moment. Promoting him to mayor of a major city is politics way of settling this disappointing event.
- I don't think PvdA has any other suitable candidates at this moment.

And please explain how him being a Muslim played a role in this?

[The Good]

Just because Aboutaleb is a Moroccan, and probably a Muslim, should not disqualify him.

[Scar Face]

Just because Aboutaleb is a Moroccan, and probably a Muslim, should not disqualify him.

Yeah it should.

[jankren]

Yeah it should.

No explanation?

[Noble Savage]

Deleted more off-topic posts. I love pictures of hunky men as much as the next man but they are off-topic. I will start handing out little yellow and red cards if they keep popping up . Please guys ,join a dating site or open a thread somewhere else .

Ta

Noble Savage

[Каие]

Yeah it should.

Really? A person in a democratic country should be banned from running based on religion?

[The Dude]

Yeah it should.

I agree that it should. In Scar Face Land.

Thankfully we do not live there.

[jankren]

I agree that it should. In Scar Face Land.

Which is Canada?

Really? A person in a democratic country should be banned from running based on religion?

Oh come on, we all know Scar Face believes not in democracy.

[Каие]

Which is Canada?

His bedroom, Canada would laugh at him.