Historic Farmers’ Party Victory in Dutch Parliament Jeopardizes Environmental Plans

New peasant citizen movement –BoerBurgerMovementin Dutch- (BBB) ​​got a historic triumph taking between 16 and 17 seats out of the 75 in the Parliament in the regional elections on Wednesday.

Thus, the BBB was the party with the most votes in the Senate in the majority of the twelve provinces of the country and became the most represented in the Upper House.

“The people have made their voices heard, and in what way”commented after the victory the leader of the party, Caroline van der Plas.

This advance by the coalition represents a serious risk for the executive’s plans for environmental policy, which they firmly reject.

Since its creation four years ago, the BBB has led several protests against the Prime Minister’s plans To mark Ruth seeking to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Specifically, the goal is reduce nitrogen emissions by 50%a greenhouse gas emitted mainly by fertilizers and manure, by 2030.

The problem with these projects – described as necessary to solve the housing crisis – is that they propose a reduction in the number of cattle and even a possible closure of farms to achieve these objectives.

This is why, during the elections, several populist leaders – including those who feel ignored on other issues by the oldest leader in the Netherlands, who is celebrating his 13 years in power – joined his line and offered their support.

“The historic victory of the BoerBurgerBeweging is the result of numerous protest votes“, writes the political journalist of the public channel LITMarleen de Roy, while the daily The Telegraph qualification “Kabboem” in a pun that combines the name of the party and the sound of an explosion.

With this result, the BBB is followed in representation by the joined block of The Greens and the Broken Workerwith 15 seats, then the sovereign Party of Freedom and Democracy (VVD) of the Prime Minister, with 10 places.

In any case, despite its majority in the hemicycle, the peasant coalition could have difficulty obtaining the necessary support for its environmental projects.

To get the green light, the BBB could team up with right-wing parties also opposed although GroenLinks and Labor believe these plans are not ambitious enough.

“The voters left the government a complex political puzzle” to solve, provided by the newspaper The Volkskrant and, from the Peasant Movement and the Left Bloc, they have already announced that they will demand “substantial concessions” to offer their cooperation to Rutte.

In this sense, the legislator Caroline van der Plas underlined her commitment to question the environmental plans of the executive.

For its part, the ruling party told the LIT that he will analyze the situation “calmly” and that his coalition – which nevertheless has a majority in the Lower House – will seek a majority “by expediency” in the Senate.

Also, they put forward their desire to liberate 25,000 million euros (26.6 billion USD) by 2035 to help the agricultural sector reduce its emissions.

(With information from AFP)

Continue reading: