The Netherlands Muslim Party has announced it will be fielding candidates in local elections next year in five towns and cities, including Amsterdam and The Hague.
 

Party chairman Henny Kreeft says he is also in discussion with party branches in at least a further five municipalities on whether they will field candidates. In June Mr Kreeft said he hoped party representatives would be standing in twenty districts. The NMP will launch its election manifesto after Ramadan, the Islamic month of fasting, which this year ends on 19 September.

If it is successful, the NMP will not be the first Islamic party to be represented in Dutch local politics. The Islam Democrats have held a seat on the local council in The Hague since 2006.

NMP chairman Henny Kreeft is a Dutchman from the small polder town of Emmeloord, northeast of Amsterdam. He converted to Islam in the 1990s, and established the NMP in 2007. The party aims at bridging the gap between Muslims and non-Muslims in Netherlands, and giving Islam a more positive image. Its board includes both men and women, and people of both Dutch and non-Dutch ethnic backgrounds.

The NMP’s charter endorses the separation of religion and state and the principles of democracy. It also declares that while some of its members may have difficulty in accepting homosexuality, the party recognises that it is permitted and accepted in Dutch society.

Mr Kreeft was previously active in the LPF, the party led by murdered rightwing populist politician Pim Fortuyn. This might be seen as surprising given that the LPF, now disbanded, was generally known for a negative stance on immigration and Islam. Many of its former voters have now switched their support to anti-Islam politician Geert Wilders.

However, on an internet forum for converts to Islam, Mr Kreeft says he was open about his religion during his time in the LPF, and Mr Fortuyn had many Muslim supporters. He says he was ultimately expelled during internal disputes in 2004, but not in relation to his religion.

He then became active in a regional political party, but was again expelled in 2006. This time it was because in the light of Geert Wilders’ growing popularity, he expressed criticism of the party’s increasingly anti-Islamic statements. The NMP hopes to counter Geert Wilders' influence in the political arena.