BBB and VVD must be part of the new Brabant coalition. The PvdA and GroenLinks are logical partners. Local Brabant can then supplement that coalition. That’s what scout Sacha Ausems said on Wednesday evening at the presentation of her report. “The puzzle must fit on content, but also on cooperation if you want to form a stable coalition.”
Ausems presented her findings to the new Provincial Council in the Provincial House in Den Bosch. A second possibility for a coalition could be BBB, VVD, SP, Local Brabant, supplemented with a fifth party, but extra talks are needed to see if it is an option.
Tricky files
Nature, nitrogen and the agricultural transition are the most thorny issues. That is why it is at least remarkable that a combination of BBB and GroenLinks is being proposed. According to John Frenken, the leader of the BBB, they can really get somewhere. “The goal is the same, only the way there is different.”
It is striking that CDA is not invited to the formation table. According to Ausems, there are doubts about whether the party can be a reliable partner. The reason for this is the changing course of the CDA.
Farmer interests
Party leader Ronnes was already feeling wet. “I’ve heard something about it in the corridors. But it’s good.” In the discussions, other parties also indicated that farmers’ interests are well represented by BBB.
JA21 is also likely to fall by the wayside. Willem Rutjens has serious doubts about this proposal. “There is no coalition agreement yet. I think that this combination of parties will ultimately ensure that it will cost the people of Brabant a lot of money one way or another.”
Alexander van Hattem of the PVV wonders whether voters should be happy with this. “In this way we will continue on the path we have taken. That is precisely not what the voters wanted. I am very curious how these parties should find each other on policy.”
Large majority
The preference is for a coalition with a large majority of seats, said Ausems. This is to prevent a coalition from losing its majority due to secessionists. The experience with the Forum for Democracy, which crumbled and thus killed the cooperation with VVD, CDA and Local Brabant, plays a role in that wish. BBB, VVD, GroenLinks, PvdA, and Local Brabant together have 31 seats.
The Provincial Council of Brabant is highly fragmented: no less than 15 parties together divide the 55 seats. It is now up to the formateur to get a coalition out of this soup.
Breakpoint
Already in the morning after the elections, BBB leader John Frenken put a hard breaking point on the table: the deadline for barn adjustments must be scrapped. Farmers now have to make their stables low-emission before 1 July 2024. How BBB, VVD and the left-wing parties will find each other in this should become clear in the coming period.
Pieter Verhoeve, the mayor of Gouda will be the formateur. He starts his task at 10 a.m. on Friday. John Frenken (BBB) will then receive him and explain what is expected of him.