The BBB faction in the Senate is unanimously opposed to the dispersal law. This is confirmed by party leader Ilona Lagas, following reports in The Telegraph.
The BBB position no longer matters for the passage of the much-discussed law. At the beginning of this week, the VVD Senate faction announced that it will vote unanimously in favor of the law next Tuesday. The dispersal law must regulate a ‘fairer’ distribution of asylum seekers across the country. It was unclear for a long time whether the law would pass in the Senate. Outspoken proponents were stuck at 36 seats, a majority in the Senate requires 38 seats. A key role seemed to be reserved for the one-man factions of 50Plus and Independent Politics Netherlands.
There have also been indications since last month that some BBB senators are considering voting in favor of the bill. The BBB is the largest faction in the Senate with sixteen seats. The party voted against the law in the House of Representatives. Party leader Caroline van der Plas is an outspoken opponent of the law, because she believes that measures must first be devised and introduced to significantly limit the influx of asylum seekers and refugees. Only then will she make efforts to improve the distribution of asylum seekers.
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‘Ethical and moral grounds’
Van der Plas shares this position with VVD and NSC, parties with whom she has been negotiating a possible cabinet for several weeks. The PVV does not want to admit asylum seekers at all. At the same time, BBB believes that rural municipalities, especially in the east and north of the country, are saddled with a disproportionate number of asylum seekers. Cities in the Randstad in particular would avoid their responsibility, according to the voice within the party. That has to stop. This argument bothered some senators from the party, because they had seen with their own eyes in recent months how dire the reception crisis is in Ter Apel and Budel.
At the beginning of December, Ilona Lagas stated that her party “does not have such strict factional discipline” and that the sixteen BBB senators have agreed that individual senators may deviate from the party line if there are “ethical and moral grounds” for doing so. But the faction must also relate to the formation discussions, where Van der Plas represents the smallest party with seven seats. Its most important asset is the large faction in the Senate. But a faction that votes against the party line actually has a weakening effect and not as an asset.
On Monday, the ten-member VVD faction unexpectedly announced that it would vote in favor of the law. This may have removed the political pressure from doubting BBB members, making it easier to support Van der Plas.
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