Oh, this is gonna be Geweldig (GREAT)!
A farmers’ party has stunned Dutch politics, and is set to be the biggest party in the upper house of parliament after provincial elections.
The Farmer-citizen movement (BBB) was only set up in 2019 in the wake of widespread farmers’ protests.
But with most votes counted they are due to win 15 seats of the Senate’s seats with almost 20% of the vote.
“This isn’t normal, but actually it is! It’s all normal citizens who voted,” said leader Caroline van der Plas.
Power to the farmers! #Farmersprotest
“A farmers’ party has stunned Dutch politics, and is set to be the biggest party in the upper house of parliament after provincial elections.”https://t.co/F78llwPuwU
— Dr. Matthew M. Wielicki (@MatthewWielicki) March 16, 2023
This is people power at its finest – had enough of the ruling elites, have you?
WATCH: Dutch Commentator @EvaVlaar speaks with Rebel News’ @CSmiles_News on why its so important to protest the nitrogen emission reducing policies.
“We feed the world.”
Please support our work at https://t.co/3p9CRTXUZx. pic.twitter.com/Qazytnyy5Q
— Rebel News UK (@RebelNews_UK) March 11, 2023
Time to get out and vote? And so they did.
Oh, this is just delicious.
…The BBB or BoerBurgerBeweging (Farmer-Citizen Movement) party rode a wave of protests against the government’s environmental policies and looked set to have won more Senate seats than Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s conservative VVD party.
A first exit poll projected BBB won 15 of a total of 75 seats in the Senate, which has the power to block legislation agreed in the Lower House of parliament, with the VVD dropping from 12 to 10 seats.
The meteoric rise of BBB is a major blow for Rutte’s governing coalition, casting doubt over its aim to drastically cut nitrogen pollution on farms, the single issue upon which BBB was founded in 2019.
Now, it’s not all moonlight and roses from here. The Labour and Greens have their noses sincerely out of joint at these results. The two once preeminent parties have announced they are going to join forces in opposition to the BBB, in an effort to jam through both the carbon and confiscatory “reforms.”
…The two most cooperative parties, Labour and GreenLeft, looked set to have held on to their seats, keeping their combined group at a par with BBB and possibly enough to maintain support for Rutte’s policies.
?? Really bad news. The first election results are in: The ruling parties suffered some losses, but with the help of the Labour Party and the green-left they will still be able to form a majority in the Senate to pass the nitrogen policies, including expropriation. #DutchFarmers
— Eva Vlaardingerbroek (@EvaVlaar) March 15, 2023
They should be warned, though. The weekend before the elections saw quite a grassroots turnout, which was reflected at the ballot box. If they choose to bulldoze ahead without taking into account the country-wide populist anger at these edicts, it could be rough sledding.
…More than 10,000 farmers joined fresh protests on Saturday 11 March ahead of the election. Many were flying the country’s flag upside down in a symbolic representation of the movement.
They say that the new regulations to cut nitrogen emissions have been exaggerated and current proposals to solve the problem are unfair and ineffective.
Rutte has committed to halving nitrogen emissions in the Netherlands by 2030. Levels of nitrogen oxides in the country’s air and water are currently higher than EU regulations allow.
…A lot of these emissions come from the waste produced by the country’s more than 100 million cows, pigs and chickens. Despite its small size, the Netherlands is the world’s second-biggest exporter of agricultural products by value behind the US.
To cut nitrogen emissions, the government plans to reduce livestock numbers by a third, which could mean some farmers face compulsory buyouts.
There is a good chance that the BBB could and will work with what they call “far-right” parties holding other senate seats to block any plans.
But I think BBB party leader, Caroline van der Plas, is going to have to take a couple of minutes to absorb it all.
It will be just glorious if she, her elected folks, the Dutch people, and farmers on tractors can bring the whole elite, WEF globalist agenda in the Netherlands crashing to earth.
If they pull it off, or even just sincerely cripple it, who knows what unicorns regular citizens can topple next before it’s too late?
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