AMSTERDAM, March 15 (Portal) – A peasant protest party rocked the political landscape in the Netherlands on Wednesday, emerging as a big winner in the provincial elections that will decide the composition of the Senate.
The BBB or BoerBurgerBeweging party rode a wave of protests against the government’s environmental policies and appeared to have won more Senate seats than Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s conservative VVD party.
An initial exit poll predicted BBB to win 15 seats out of 75 in the Senate, which has the power to block legislation passed in the lower house of Parliament, while the VVD fell from 12 to 10 seats.
BBB’s meteoric rise comes as a major blow to Rutte’s ruling coalition and casts doubt on its goal of drastically reducing nitrogen pollution on farms, the only issue BBB was founded on in 2019.
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“No one can ignore us any longer,” BBB boss Caroline van der Plas told Radio 1.
“The voters have spoken out very clearly against the policies of this government.”
The government aims to halve nitrogen emissions by 2030, as relatively high livestock numbers and heavy use of fertilizers have resulted in levels of nitrogen oxides in soil and water in breach of EU rules.
The nitrogen problem has paralyzed construction in the Netherlands as environmental groups have won a series of court cases urging the government to limit emissions and protect nature before new building permits can be granted.
The BBB says the problem has been exaggerated and that the proposed solutions are unfairly balanced against farmers, leading to the closure of many farms and bottlenecks in food production.
Rutte’s government has not had a Senate majority since the previous provincial elections in 2019 and has to negotiate deals with mostly left-wing opponents.
The two most cooperative parties, Labor and GreenLeft, appeared to have held their seats and kept their combined faction on par with BBB and possibly enough to maintain support for Rutte’s policies.
BBB won a single seat in the House of Commons in 2021, but its popularity has surged due to growing distrust of the government and anger over issues like immigration.
Rutte’s government has fallen to a 20% approval rating for its fourth straight term since 2010, the lowest in a decade.
Reporting by Bart Meijer; Editing by Susan Fenton and David Gregorio
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