The BBB won a third of the votes in Drenthe on Wednesday, resulting in seventeen seats. This gives the province one large party and 13 small factions in the Provincial Council.
Four years ago, the arrival of Forum for Democracy was already a sensation, when it came from scratch with six seats and as the second party of Drenthe in the Drenthe Parliament. But that a party became the largest in one fell swoop with such force majeure has not been seen in living memory. Forum now has one seat left.
VVD and Labor Party
Only the VVD and the PvdA, as evidenced by the provisional result, are still somewhat able to hold their own as major parties, each with four seats. Of both parties, the PvdA received the most votes with 9.4 percent. The VVD got stuck at 7.6 percent. Both parties lose two seats.
In addition to BBB, Drenthe has another newcomer with Volt, this party won one seat. There is also a profit for the Party for the Animals, which goes from one to two seats. The other parties have been reduced to diminutives. But only Stip (a secession of the PVV) disappears from the Drenthe Parliament, so that the number of factions remains the same.
It is clear that many Drenthe voters see the national nitrogen policy for the umpteenth time as an indication that the countryside in The Hague is not important. For the CDA of party leader and deputy Henk Jumelet, the grapes are particularly sour. Jumelet stood in the gap for farmers in his agricultural policy and his actions were also appreciated by the leaders of the BBB. Still, his party has to give up three of the five seats.
JA21 sees four of the five seats go up in smoke. The party was created after a split from Forum for Democracy. Member of Parliament Frank Duut later joined JA21.
Flick to the back
BBB now has to work hard and is given the lead in the formation of a new provincial government. It is almost no longer a realistic choice not to join a college and first gain experience in the opposition. Party leader Gert-Jan Schuinder could govern on the right with VVD and CDA. He stated on Thursday evening that he had already made a number of analyzes of the various party programs. He says he already has five possible deputies in mind, but does not mention any names yet.
The big question is how the inexperienced newcomers of BBB will arrange all this. Schuinder expects to receive a lot of support from his national party. However, the BBB has become the largest in most provinces, while forewoman Caroline van der Plas only has one seat in the House of Representatives.
The Drenthe King’s Commissioner Jetta Klijnsma is a very experienced politician who stands above the parties. However, she is outside the formation process, she stated on Wednesday evening. “There will probably be an informateur or a formateur who will keep me informed,” she said. “And together with the provincial clerk’s office, I will prepare the new members of parliament well for their task and discuss how we arrange all kinds of matters in the Drents Parliament and how we interact with each other.”