The House of Representatives quickly enters into a debate with Prime Minister Mark Rutte and Justice Minister Dilan Yesilgöz about intimidating and rioting farmer demonstrators. GroenLinks and the Party for the Animals received a large majority for their request. The debate is likely to be held tomorrow evening.
The debate comes shortly on the news that a demonstration by farmers at the home of nitrogen minister Christianne van der Wal got completely out of hand last night. The family of CDA Member of Parliament Derk Boswijk was also intimidated at home by farmers.
Threats and Harassment
In recent days, there have been dozens of threats and intimidation against aldermen, councilors and MPs regarding the farmers’ actions. This happened via social media, in person by people standing in front of the door and sometimes by telephone, chairman of the Dutch Police Association Jan Struijs told the ANP.
Struijs calls the threats and intimidation a very worrying development. “It’s part of the increasing aggression from the farmers.” According to Struijs, intimidation and threats should never become a revenue model. “It will be if MPs stay away from the House.”
‘Very worrisome’
This morning it was announced that CDA MP Derk Boswijk will stay at home with his family for the next few days, after angry farmers stood at his house last night to protest against the cabinet’s nitrogen policy. He was still working at the time, but his two children, aged 4 and 7, were there, Boswijk reports on Twitter.
According to Struijs, not everyone reports a threat or intimidation. “That is why it is good that Boswijk now says: I am done with it. We have also seen with the covid riots that these kinds of actions are becoming the business model, and that is very worrying.”
Henri Bontenbal, fellow group member of Boswijk, says that the actions of some farmers go “way too far”. “That also affects us as a group.” This means that the protests are not only a threat to individual politicians, but “to democracy as a whole”, says GroenLinks leader Jesse Klaver, who requested the debate. “It’s getting completely out of hand, we have to draw a line.”
‘Most reasonable people disapprove of this’
The “most reasonable people” disapprove of what the intimidating farmers are doing, says ChristenUnie leader Gert-Jan Segers. The same goes for “99 percent of farmers”, Wilders adds. Caroline van der Plas of the BoerBurgerBeweging “strongly” disapproves of the actions and distances herself from them.
“We really draw the line when intimidating ministers and representatives of the people who are unable to carry out their work as a result,” says DENK leader Farid Azarkan. Laurens Dassen (Volt) speaks of “extremely shocking images, completely unacceptable”. D66 party chairman Jan Paternotte calls the intimidation of aid borrowers and politicians “total madness” that “must stop now”. The coalition party would rather have had a debate today, than without Rutte. Attje Kuiken of the PvdA talks about “hooligans”. The violence, threats and intimidation “transcend all borders”. MP Pieter Omtzigt finds it “completely reprehensible” what happened.
SGP wants to broaden debate
Wybren van Haga (Van Haga group) is especially “deeply shocked by the policy of the cabinet”, he emphasizes. According to Roelof Bisschop (SGP), these are actions that “cannot be approved in any way”, he also wants to discuss farmers’ anger in the debate. “If you don’t take it away, it will continue to be fed,” said the SGP member. Farmers lack perspective from the cabinet, emphasizes Lilian Marijnissen, leader of the SP. The cabinet will drop more groups, emphasizes the socialist. “That is an impotent government and that that sows anger, we understand very well.”
Not everyone is in favor of broadening the debate. “That safety, that’s what it should be about now,” says party leader Sophie Hermans of the VVD.
LTO Noord: ‘Support is declining due to such actions’
LTO Noord chairman Dirk Bruins distanced himself from farmers who cross borders on Radio Drenthe this morning. “What has happened in a number of places is really not possible,” he said. Bruins calls such actions ‘extremely stupid’, because in his view the support for farmers decreases.
In Drenthe things did not get out of hand yesterday like in other places in the country. Tractors did block the highways in several places, such as on the A28 at Dwingeloo and the A37 at Zwartemeer. Fires were also set in some places. LTO member Bruins expects support for farmers to disappear if highways are blocked more often. The dairy farmer from Dwingeloo believes that the sector should focus on provincial governments and municipalities. “As far as we are concerned, that helps to stand still on the highway for more than four hours. If the parties that have to implement it say: ‘We are just not going to do it’, there is a problem in The Hague. Resistance has to come from below.”