A former member of Geert Wilders' far-right Dutch party, Joram Van Klaveren, has converted to Islam.
Making the announcement on Monday, he switched from critic to convert while writing a book about Islam, reported Politico.
In an interview, he told Dutch radio that during that writing he came across more and more things that made my previous views on Islam falter.
Van Klaveren was a member of parliament for the Freedom Party (PVV) from 2010 to 2014.
He quit the party after Greet Wilders asked supporters during a rally in 2014 if they wanted more or fewer Moroccans in the Netherlands, to which the crowd chanted “Fewer! Fewer! Fewer!”
Van Klaveren was a harsh critic of Islam during his time as a PVV politician, saying: "Islam is a lie" and "The Quran is poison", reported newspaper NRC.
After leaving the PVV, Van Klaveren set up his own party “For Netherlands” but failed to win a seat in the 2017 national election and quit politics.
When asked in a newspaper interview if he felt guilty about his previous statements, Van Klaveren said he had simply been wrong. He also added it was PVV policy that everything that was wrong had to be linked to Islam in one way or another.
Arnoud van Doorn, a former PVV official, was an earlier convert to Islam. Van Doorn congratulated Van Klaveren on his decision via Twitter, writing: "Never thought that the PVV would become a breeding ground for converts."
