Farmers win Dutch elections

According to exit polls, in the provincial elections affecting the number of seats in the Dutch Senate, the Farmer Citizens Movement Party (BBB), which participated in the elections for the first time, will receive the most of votes, while the number of seats in the Senate, which is a minority in the current Senate, will decrease.

13.3 million voters in the country went to the polls to elect 570 deputies in 12 state legislatures. The first tentative exit polls, which were inconclusive, were released shortly after voting ended.

According to data from the research company Ipsos, the winner of the state election, which affects the number of seats in the Senate, was the BBB party, which participated in the election for the first time and had only one deputy in the House of Representatives. . Representatives.

BBB party leader and lawmaker Caroline van der Plas told public broadcaster NOS that the coalition parties in the Senate needed to seriously negotiate with the BBB party: “They already had very few seats, now they are almost nothing.” . Noting that it would be a “scandal” if the coalition parties in the Senate negotiated with other parties, van der Plas said: “Then they ignore a large part of the Dutch electorate.” I am open to dialogue with anyone. We are ready,” she said.

ESTABLISHED DURING THE PROTESTS OF PEASANTS

BBB Party was founded by the administrators of a Facebook group with 20,000 members, who started the hashtag “FarmerCitizenTweet” on social media in 2019, when peasant protests began in the country.

The far-right Forum for Democracy Party (FvD), which won the previous state elections, and the Christian Democratic Union (CDA), a coalition government partner, lost most seats.

The number of seats in the current Senate, where the 4-party coalition government led by Prime Minister Mart Rutte is a minority, will be reduced from 32 to 24.

According to the exit polls in the Senate elections to be held on May 30, determined by the votes of the members of the provincial councils, BBB’s 15, VVD’s 10, GL’s 8, PvdA’s 7, D66’s 6, CDA’s 5, extreme PVV right 4, Animal Party (PvdD) 4, CU 3, Socialist Party (SP) 3, FvD 2, 50 Plus Party 1, State Reformist Party (SGP) 1, Senate Independent Group Party (OSF) 1 and the far-right party JA21, which contested state elections for the first time, is expected to win 3 seats and the Volt Party will win 2 seats.

Thus, together with PVV, FvD and Ja21, the total number of seats for far-right parties will decrease from 17 to 9, and the number of seats for coalition partners VVD, CDA, D66 and CU, which has 32 seats From a total of 75 places, it will be reduced to 24.

The Denk Party, whose majority of members are Turks and immigrants, has an assembly member in the provinces of North and South Holland and Utrecht, according to polls. Consequently, it is unlikely that the Denk Party will win a seat in the Senate. The status of many candidates of Turkish origin running in the elections will be determined by the announcement of the results of the preferential ballots. (AA)