“If it was me, I would have already left.” This has been said by the leader of BoerBurgerBeweging (BBB), a party that shows social discontent and especially the Dutch agricultural sector with national politics. She translates into Peasant-Citizen Movement and has done the math to Mark Rutte over the years. Sesame Street: the Senate has 75 seats, BBB takes 15, and the four parties that govern barely share 24. Not even half. The cabinet will have a difficult time passing the laws because the Senate has the last word, and, if you want to count on the BBB, will have to stop squeezing the peasants. newspaper front page De Telegraaf has made a good summary of election day: “KaBBBoem”. Vulgarly, she has said that they have given a “host” to the Governmentwith the initials of the party included.
It has been “a very bitter pill, worse than we expected.” These have been the first words of Wopke Hoekstra, former Minister of Finance and, in this legislature, of Foreign Affairs. She is the most visible face of the CDA Christian Democrats, traditionally strong in rural areas, but now seen as one of the establishmentthose who want to expropriate their farms and who do not know that, without cheese, milk and meat, Holland is not Holland. “This hurts”, according to the Minister of Housing, Hugo de Jonge, also from CDA. They have lost the equivalent in votes of four seats in the Senate, going from 11.2 percent of support in the provinces, to stay on Wednesday with 6.7 percenti.e. five seats.
Arantxa Palacios
The results of these elections They are not only relevant for the provinces. They are important for the distribution of the 75 seats in the national Senate because the voted deputations choose the composition of the First Chamber next May. The government coalition already had a minority there because it lost it in 2019, when the far-right of the conspiracy theorist Thierry Baudet (FvD) came stomping with its euroscepticism and entered through the front door, with 12 seats. However, the behavior of this party during the pandemic and the Russian war in Ukraine has scared its voters and it has only been able to hold two seats in the Senate.
The right-wing liberal party that Rutte represents has not fared very well in the elections either. The Popular Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) has lost three percent of the votes, two fewer seats. It will be able to place 10 senators and it is the second largest party in the House. “We have not achieved the victory we wanted, but, well, we continue to be a great party in the country. We will assume our responsibility when it comes to governing the provinces, “Rutte promised. He played down the effect of these results on his role as prime minister and considered that” there will be no immediate consequences for the governability of the country “because there are “parties that want to take responsibility”.
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The left-liberal D66 will add its six seats to the three of the Christian Union and the five of the CDA, and the government coalition will thus remain with 24 senators. That is not enough to legislate freely, but the cabinet will be able to negotiate the support of opposition parties for each of the standards you want to approve, one by one. Generally, he has been able to count on the left-wing bloc made up of the social democrat PvdA and the greens GroenLinks, which together count 15 seats. But everything will be a matter of ideologies and a lot of dialogue: You will not be able to count on them for harsh immigration policiesfor example, but yes for those against the climate emergency.
The closure of (macro)farms
What happened in the elections held in the 12 Dutch provinces is nothing more than a reflection of the current reality of the country. BBB’s victory caused, above all, disbelief, but, of course, not surprise, since the polls that have been published these months have not failed to warn it. The party was born in 2019 in response to demonstrations of the agricultural sector. It has been founded by a 55-year-old Irish-Dutch reporter, Caroline van der Plas, who is now the star in the rural world from north to south of the country, especially in her hometown of Deventer. He has celebrated his victory dressed in black and green clothescharacteristic color of his character and with which he even painted his nails.
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EFE
The national policy of expropriation of farmers to reduce macro-farms and nitrogen oxide emissions have been its banner, and it has had the country at street level for four years. Van der Plas has seen a niche market in the tractors that have blocked roads, distribution centers and the political heart of The Hague since 2019. The same ones who refuse to sell their farms and livestock to comply with the European regulations for the protection of biodiversity, affected by acid rain. BBB told them what they wanted to hear: the rural world is vital for the national economy, and the Mark Rutte government does not speak the rural language. With this idea, he became an important political factor for the Netherlands: he entered Congress in 2021 with one seat, but now the polls give him up to 15 deputies.
The most sensitive issue at the moment is that, nitrogen. The Government wants to implement various measures to protect biodiversity and protected natural areas. Belgium forces large pig farmers to close their business due to this problem. Germany is in the same position, but does not yet have a clear nitrogen policy. And the Dutch have chosen very strict legislation to limit emissions faster. “Almost no farmer says they don’t want to cooperate on nitrogen reduction. They want to be part of the solution, but they also want the right to exist. The starting point of politics should not be: you have to go. Should be: How can we make sure you can stay?”Van der Plas said.
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Lucia R. Amsterdam
BBB’s victory is due precisely to the character of Van der Plas, an atypical politician at a time of skepticism towards more traditional politicians, with citizens tired of several years of challenges, especially after the pandemic, inflation and high energy prices. She is a woman who presents herself as a village neighbor among highly educated politicians who make decisions several kilometers away from the real problems of the people. Her first reaction to the election result said it all. “Many voters did not feel seenheard or taken seriously by the government, this group of voters would normally have stayed at home, but on Wednesday they made themselves heard,” he admitted.
The feeling towards the national government has been an important motivation of the voters who have gone to the polls on Wednesday. 14 percent have done so to support the Rutte government, but 46 percent have voted to show their disapproval of official policies, according to research commissioned by the public channel NOS. Of all those who voted against the cabinet, most cite the incompetence of administrators as the main reason. Other reasons mentioned are the nitrogen policy, climate policy, health care and immigration. 92 percent of BBB voters cite the nitrogen issue as the primary reason for voting against Rutte’s team.
“What we as the BBB have missed in recent years is friendliness. That caring for each other is our first core value. We miss that in contemporary politics. That is the reason why we go into politics, “he said. And that is perhaps the general feeling that has put Rutte in front of a mirror to warn him about the future that awaits him if The Hague remains disconnected from the Netherlands.”The cabinet has to take this very seriously.If it were me, I would have already left.”
“If it was me, I would have already left.” This has been said by the leader of BoerBurgerBeweging (BBB), a party that shows social discontent and especially the Dutch agricultural sector with national politics. She translates into Peasant-Citizen Movement and has done the math to Mark Rutte over the years. Sesame Street: the Senate has 75 seats, BBB takes 15, and the four parties that govern barely share 24. Not even half. The cabinet will have a difficult time passing the laws because the Senate has the last word, and, if you want to count on the BBB, will have to stop squeezing the peasants. newspaper front page De Telegraaf has made a good summary of election day: “KaBBBoem”. Vulgarly, she has said that they have given a “host” to the Governmentwith the initials of the party included.
