UvA rejects PhD thesis of Martin Bosma, chair of the House of Representatives

The dissertation of Martin Bosma (PVV), chair of the House of Representatives, has been negatively assessed by the UvA. Jean Tilly, professor of political science and Martin Bosma’s supervisor, cannot say anything about why the thesis was rejected. Nor can he say anything yet about how to proceed from now. “I would like to discuss that with Martin Bosma himself first, but there are options.”
 
The television programme Argos writes that a version submitted earlier was also rejected. According to the UvA’s PhD regulations, if the manuscript is rejected, a decision can be made as to whether it can still be revised or supplemented.
 
Martin Bosma’s PhD thesis is a continuation of his earlier book Minderheid in eigen land, which deals with South Africa and support from the Netherlands for the ANC. In the book, he raises the question of whether Dutch people will soon become a minority in their own country, just like Afrikaners. In an earlier interview with Trouw, he spoke about his fear: “I foresee the end of the Netherlands, of the West, of Europe.”
 
Earlier, Meindert Fennema, emeritus professor of political science, supervised Bosma on his PhD. After his retirement, Jean Tilly took over. In an earlier interview with Vrij Nederland, Fennema, who passed away last year, called Bosma “an extremely talented and extremely hard-working man”.
 
Bosma, who had previously attempted to become chair of the House of Representatives, succeeded Vera Bergkamp (D66) in December. He promised to be a “neutral chairman who will give space to all parties”.