A political earthquake hit the Netherlands Wednesday in the wake of massive farmer’s protests as the upstart Farmer’s Movement party passed the ruling People’s Party in provincial elections. “Nobody can ignore us any longer,” said Farmer’s Movement leader Caroline van der Plas.
“The BBB or BoerBurgerBeweging (Farmer-Citizen Movement) party rode a wave of protests against the government’s environmental policies and looked set to have won more Senate seats than Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s conservative VVD party”, Reuters reports. The BBB was strongest party in the Provincial Council elections in all Dutch provinces except urban Utrecht Province.
The Dutch Provincial Councils elect the Dutch Senate May 30, where the ruling RINO government already has no majority. Upstart BBB is now projected to win 15 Senate seats out of 75, passing Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s People’s Party with projected 10 seats. The Green-Left coalition also won 15 seats, and could still conspire with the RINO government to force through a disastrous ban on Nitorgen fertilizer like the one that wrecked Sri Lanka’s economy last year.
“Nobody can ignore us any longer,” BBB leader Caroline van der Plas told broadcaster Radio 1, according to Reuters. “Voters have spoken out very clearly against this government’s policies.”
In the opposition, Thierry Baudet’s Forum for Democracy and Geert Wilders’ Freedom Party are the losers. “Baudet came in from nowhere four years ago, but nothing is left of it now, he goes from 4 to 2 seats. Wilders posts a slight loss. He has already acknowledged that there is nothing to do against BBB”, Belgian VRT wrote.
“Congratulations to BBB!”, Wilders wrote. “We hope to keep our 5 seats in the Senate. The coalition has rightly received a major blow, the cabinet has had its day and the PVV has the best time ahead of it!”
Felicitaties aan BBB! We hopen onze 5 zetels in de Eerste Kamer te houden. De coalitie heeft terecht een forse draai om de oren gekregen, het kabinet heeft zijn langste tijd gehad en de PVV de mooiste tijd nog voor zich! Veel dank aan alle enthousiaste PVV-ers voor jullie stem! pic.twitter.com/vNRQCzPPle
— Geert Wilders (@geertwilderspvv) March 15, 2023
Activist Eva Vlaardingerbroek, formerly of the right-wing Forum for Democracy, called the results “really bad news”, however, warning of a RINO-Left coalition: “The first election results are in: The ruling parties suffered some losses, but with the help of the Labour Party and the green-left they will still be able to form a majority in the Senate to pass the nitrogen policies, including expropriation.”
🇳🇱 Really bad news. The first election results are in: The ruling parties suffered some losses, but with the help of the Labour Party and the green-left they will still be able to form a majority in the Senate to pass the nitrogen policies, including expropriation. #DutchFarmers
— Eva Vlaardingerbroek (@EvaVlaar) March 15, 2023
“We’re in it for the long haul”, wrote FvD chair Thierry Baudet on Twitter.
“The BBB did a great job this election”, wrote JA21 MEP Rob Roos. “Congratulations, Caroline van der Plas! The voters have clearly indicated that they are done with the course and games of this cabinet. In NL it should be about the people again!”
.@BoerBurgerB heeft het geweldig gedaan deze verkiezingen. Van harte gefeliciteerd @lientje1967 👏
De kiezer heeft duidelijk aangegeven dat zij klaar zijn met de koers en de spelletjes van dit kabinet.Het moet in NL weer om de mensen gaan!
Welke conclusies trekt #Rutte4? pic.twitter.com/v11h0x2BH2
— Rob Roos MEP 🇳🇱 (@Rob_Roos) March 16, 2023