BBB projected to win 17 seats in Senate, support for CDA coalition strains

The Farmers Party BBB is the largest group in all 12 state legislatures. Photo: DutchNews.nl

The Farmers BBB could win 17 seats in the new Senate, according to the latest projections, and the coalition quartet won’t get enough support from the Labor Party (PvdA) and the left-wing coalition of GroenLinks to secure a majority.

Revised projections based on state election results would give the BBB an extra seat, coalition D66 to win five seats instead of six, and give the Cabinet a total of 22 seats.

PvdA and GL are still trying to win 15 seats, but the government will need the support of at least one other party if it wants to pass legislation in the Senate without relying on the BBB.

Senators are elected in May by an electoral college made up of representatives from all states, with votes weighted to reflect the population size of each state. Delegates generally vote in line with party policy, but this is not an obligation.

More importantly, what happens to the two or three “remaining seats” left after each party’s threshold is reached.

The Christian Democratic Party (CDA), which nearly halved to less than 7% of the vote in last Wednesday’s election, is holding a crisis meeting on Tuesday, pressured by leaders to water down the government’s downsizing plan. are likely to receive Agriculture.

Hookstra in flames

Party leader Wopke Hoekstra was criticized by state leaders at a webinar last Friday, with some delegates saying his position and the CDA’s support for the coalition were the subject of debate.

Harold Schroeder, chairman of the CDA’s Limburg chapter, said: “These are certainly issues to be addressed on Tuesday. told Telegraaf.

“We expressed our disappointment and sadness over the election results.

Hoekstra said last week in response to BBB’s breakthrough that it could no longer be “business as usual.”

exile

The CDA has traditionally enjoyed strong support in rural areas, but many voters defected to the BBB in protest against proposals to buy out farms to meet European nitrogen pollution limits.

Hoekstra said last fall that it does not view the 2030 deadline to halve its nitrogen emissions, which would require the purchase of about 11,000 farms, as “sacred.”

CDA housing minister Hugo de Jonge said plans for a nationwide housing program also depend on reducing nitrogen pollution so states can issue building permits again.

nitrogen limit

Piet Adema, agriculture minister for the ChristenUnie party, which also has support from state voters, said:

The Economic Planning Agency’s PBL has said compulsory purchases are the only way to reach its goals, but the BBB has said it will block any action to force farmers to sell.

In 2019, the State Council ruled that governments are obligated to comply with European regulations on nitrogen compound emissions to protect protected areas known as Natura 2000 zones.

The government has given states a July 1 deadline to develop detailed plans to reduce emissions to below limits in 74% of designated areas by 2030.