Farid Azarkan, leader of the Dutch DENK party, was caught not denken (thinking) straight as he attended multiple events after testing positive for coronavirus.
Back in March, during the Netherlands’ third wave of coronavirus, Azarkan completely ignored the rules at the time, which mandated anyone who tests positive to stay in home isolation for at least five days, reports the NOS.
Showing up for a session at the House of Representatives and even taking part in a debate with the outgoing Prime Minister Mark Rutte, Azarkan was attending political events within three days of his positive test. THREE DAYS.
Red-handed
How did all of this unfold, you ask? In a WhatsApp group leak. Politicians, they’re just like us.
The texts reveal that after his initial positive test on March 29, the party leader sent a WhatsApp text to other members of DENK that said: “I feel good. Tested yesterday and positive.”
Ironically, however, and within the same text chain, Azarkan said on March 25 that the cabinet had an “irresponsible” approach towards the coronavirus rules. Pfft.
Now that the story came to light, Azarkan took to Twitter to fight back and explain that he tested negative twice after his initial positive test and, therefore, decided to break his home isolation. Not that he notified anyone with his negative tests at the time though. 👀
Rule-breakers
DENK’s leader isn’t the only political figure with a problematic coronavirus history. He at least went to get tested though, which is a tad better than Thierry Baudet of the Forum for Democracy (FvD) who also made a news cameo after having COVID-19 symptoms but failing to test altogether.
An honourable mention goes to the former Dutch Minister of Justice Ferdinand Grapperhaus who had to apologise in the past as the 1.5-meter rule was practically non-existent at his wedding, as well as the former Dutch Minister of Defence Ank Bijleveld who attended an in-person church service for Christmas last year just when the government asked everyone to join virtually. 🤷
Do you think the Dutch cabinet should enforce harsher rules on representatives who break coronavirus regulations? Let us know in the comments!
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