Seventy percent of Christian Democrat voters want the young Angolan asylum seeker Mauro Manuel to receive a residence permit.

The figures were published on Thursday by pollster Maurice de Hond, who surveyed 1,200 people. Thirty-six percent of Freedom Party voters believe Mauro should be allowed to stay compared to 41 percent of supporters of the ruling VVD.

The Christian Democrats (CDA), junior partners in the minority coalition, announced on Thursday that they would back Immigration and Asylum Minister Gerd Leers’ decision not to give Mauro a residence permit.

The announcement was made after an extraordinary meeting of Christian Democrat MPs ahead of a parliamentary vote on the issue. The vote was scheduled for Thursday at the request of the parliamentary party, which said it wanted clarity about Mauro as soon as possible.

The opposition Labour, Green Left and the democrat D66 parties said the real reason was that the Christian Democrat MPs wanted to settle the issue before Saturday’s party congress, where the subject of Mauro’s fate is sure to be discussed extensively.

(gsh/hs/imm)

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