DUTCH MOROCCAN FOR MAYOR

Junior social affairs minister Ahmed Aboutaleb is poised to become the new mayor of Rotterdam, after council officials voted to nominate him for the job. Aboutaleb, a Labour party member, will be the first mayor in the Netherlands to have a Moroccan background. Prior to joining the cabinet, Aboutaleb was in charge of social issues on Amsterdam city council. Aboutaleb first started thinking about applying for the job in the summer. ‘It is a really nice city, with a special population make-up and a great history,’ Aboutaleb was quoted as saying. He dismissed criticism that he was leaving the cabinet half way through doing the job. ‘What is important is that you stay in a public function,’ he said. Aboutaleb’s Labour party is the biggest on the port city council. Aboutaleb has dual Dutch and Moroccan nationality. Since his appointment to the cabinet, he has been under considerable pressure from right-wing parties to give up his Moroccan nationality. Geert Wilders, leader of the anti immigration party PVV said ‘the appointment of a Moroccan as mayor of Holland’s second biggest city is as insane as making a Dutchman mayor of Makkah.’