Rotterdam City Council has voted Ahmed Aboutaleb as its mayor. The current deputy social affairs minister and member of the Labour party will be the first-ever Dutch mayor of Moroccan origin. The appointment still has to be officially approved by the interior minister. Mr Aboutaleb will succeed Conservative VVD party member Ivo Opstelten, who has been in office for ten years.
 Ahmed Aboutaleb |
Rotterdam City Council said Mr Aboutaleb is "extremely involved in local government" and "an inspiration for all Rotterdam residents".
But the small rightwing party, Leefbaar Rotterdam, with a large representation on the city's council criticised the appointment of Mr Aboutaleb: "He lives in Amsterdam, he's an opportunistic career climber, an Ajax supporter and worst of all, he has two passports", said leader Ronald Sörensen.
The National Committee of Moroccans (LBM) has applauded the new appointment of Mr Aboutaleb. "The Moroccan community is writing history by providing such a large and leading city with its lord mayor", says a spokesperson for the organisation.
Role model
At the time of the announcement of Mr Aboutaleb's nomination, a debate was being held in Amsterdam about how best to deal with young Morroccan troublemakers. The debate was prompted by a recent incident in which ambulance staff had received death threats.
It's this kind of incidents that has created a negative image of the Dutch-Moroccan community within the Arab-islamic world, says Khalid Chokat, director of the Arab Film Festival Rotterdam. He is hoping that Mr Aboutaleb will be able to adjust that image.
"[Mr Aboutaleb's nomination] proves that immigrants, contrary to what some parties claim, are in a position to produce a political elite that is capable of taking responsibility in the Netherlands."
Mr Aboutaleb is a typical self-made man. He arrived in the Netherlands with his parents from Morocco at the age of sixteen. After a career in journalism he entered Amsterdam city politics. "Do not exclude any group," was his motto as the Alderman in charge of education. At the same time, Mr Aboutaleb is no supporter of a soft approach. In 2004, after the murder of filmmaker Theo van Gogh by a Muslim-extremist of Moroccan descent, he said that anyone who sympathised with the murderer should consider leaving the country as soon as possible.
White interests
That type of statement didn't go down well with everyone within the Moroccan community. According to Abdel Halim Madkouri of the multicultural organisation Forum, some Moroccans look upon Mr Aboutaleb as someone who defends "white interests". It's only natural that there are differing opinions about Mr Aboutaleb in the Arab-Muslim community, says Mr Chokat.
"We don't have to be unanimous in everything. We are living in a democracy with room for differences of opinion."
In Roterdam, Mr Aboutaleb is set to encounter similar differences. Rotterdam is a multi-coloured city with around 165 nationalities. Almost half of the population has foreign roots. It's also the city where the late populist politician Pim Fortuyn created a furore. Mr Fortuyn, who fell victim to a political murder in 2002, expressed many people's frustrations with multicultural society in the Netherlands. And particularly in Rotterdam, that message was well received.
*RNW translation (gsh/fd/tt)
Tags: Ahmed Aboutaleb, immigrants, Rotterdam