Dutch lawmakers back coronavirus curfew despite criticism

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, slammed the proposed curfew saying Rutte was making the public "bleed for his own failure" to control the spread of the virus.

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.

Image credits: AP