Red light district flashes EU
2005-06-01 14:59
Amsterdam - Night owls stumbled out into the morning sun in Amsterdam's red light district, hesitating between going home to sleep or, in most cases, casting their ballot against the European constitution in Wednesday's referendum.
The reasons for the "no" are many in this small neighbourhood dotted with bridges and canals and famous for its abundance of legal sex and drugs, including hiked prices after the change to the euro and fear of a roll-back of the Netherlands' liberal laws.
Frans and Lia Walter sweep up in front of the Casa Rosso, an Amsterdam landmark, polishing the brass handles on the door that leads to this temple of "erotic spectacle".
"It's a mess! And they want to allow Turkey to enter? They should make the Netherlands work first and then we'll see," Frans said, his broom flicking angrily side to side to illustrate his point.
Nearby, Ferdy wiped off a few glasses in his cafe, a traditional working-class pub.
Government unpopular
After a slight hesitation he added, "I'll go vote, but it will be in opposition ... I'm sick of this government. That might be simplistic, but this is the only means of protest that I have access to," he said.
Pointing to his virtually empty cash register he fumed "at the end of the month we have nothing left".
Despite such gripes, which have been echoed in nationwide polls, voters appeared eager to cast their ballots on Wednesday, with about 12% of the Netherlands' 11.6 million eligible voters turning out by just midday. That's an increase of three percentage points compared to the number of those who had voted by this time in the 2004 European elections.
Surveys show the "no" vote virtually assured of victory with 60%, but judging by an unscientific sample across Amsterdam, everyone comes down firmly against the treaty.
Joris Kampmeijer, 28, insisted that "the current treaty is not democratic enough".
"If we're going to have a constitution we should have a system in which the people have influence on decision-making," he said, adding that the constitution document "is too long".
Back in the red light district, Soraya and Sabrina, wearing pink, lacy underwear, sat on display in their window, soaking up the sun as they wait for the day's first customer.
The referendum does not interest them, they said. "As soon as possible we will go to the Dominican Republic. There's no euro there. I guess that's a good reason to vote against the constitution," Soraya said, pointing out that "we earn 400 euros a day. Before, 3 000 guilders (close to €1 400) was not unusual".
"And this is a free country here," she said, referring to the legality of prostitution in the Netherlands. "We don't want Europe to come and change that."