Dutch set to vote in local elections with national impact
Farmer and Citizen Movement likely to make big gains
THE HAGUE, NETHERLANDS Dutch voters go to the polls Wednesday in local elections with a national impact, with campaign themes ranging from local bugbears like dwindling public transport in remote villages to global issues such as migration and the environment.
It is also a test of strength for Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s fourparty centre-right coalition, especially since newly elected provincial lawmakers also pick a new upper house of the national parliament in May. A big shift could affect Rutte’s ability to pass legislation for the remainder of his coalition’s term in office.
After increasingly populist campaigning, the vote for the country’s 12 provincial parliaments is expected to highlight a simmering discontent with Rutte’s government and the continuing rise of a party representing farmers angry at moves to contain their output in an attempt to rein in pollution.
Across the nation of nearly 18 million people, dozens of parties take part in the elections, many of them small and local. Voters also will elect members of the country’s 21 local water authorities, key institutions in a nation more than a quarter of which is below sea level and which has endless lines of dikes to protect its heartland.
Often elections with little impact in the past, Wednesday’s poll could be a turning point for Rutte.
Rutte, who came to power in 2010 and is now the Netherlands’ longest-serving leader, is under pressure after a parliamentary inquiry into earthquakes caused by natural gas extraction in the northern province of Groningen was critical of him and his government.
Rutte’s administration has not yet formally responded to the findings, but he acknowledged that the conclusions were “hard and painful.”
His government also has faced massive protests by farmers over plans to slash emissions of nitrates that damage protected natural habitats.
Thousands of farmers and others, including many from the far right of the political spectrum, gathered in a park in The Hague on Saturday for a protest demonstration.
Sylvia Smits, a 61-year-old protester lamented what she sees as the demise of the country amid the cost of living crisis in the Netherlands that also is hitting many other wealthy European nations.
“There’s a shortage of food, many people do not have enough money to eat every day. And it’s really horrible. The Netherlands, Holland, was once a very, very rich country, but now we are falling apart,” she said.
Polls show that the populist Farmer and Citizen Movement led by lawmaker Caroline van der Plas is likely to win big in the elections as it taps into discontent in rural communities that perceive themselves as sidelined by the government in The Hague.
The party, known by its Dutch acronym BBB, was formed in 2019 and is taking part in provincial elections for the first time.
‘‘ The Netherlands, Holland, was once a very, very rich country, but now we are falling apart. SYLVIA SMITS PROTESTER