Politicians who co-decide on nitrogen policy and the future of agriculture are going through anxious days. They talk about terror and intimidation at their house. About a threatening atmosphere at the Chamber Building. About their work, which is hampered because their safety is not guaranteed. Sometimes they only talk on a background basis, so as not to “make it bigger” or to give farmers the impression that terror works.
MPs also say they can no longer do their job. Last week, several MPs, including Derk Boswijk (CDA) and Tjeerd de Groot (D66), received advice from the National Coordinator for Security and Counterterrorism (NCTV) not to go to Stroe, where a large farmer’s demonstration was held. De Groot did not go, Boswijk did, as did MPs from right-wing and radical-right parties.
De Groot knows what it is like to be threatened, a threatener has already been convicted six times. He says: “If it is not safe to express an opinion different from that of the parties that did go, democracy is hampered. It thrives on a variety of opinions.”
Protesters at politicians’ homes
CDA MP Boswijk did not report in The Hague on Wednesday. The night before, while Boswijk was still working, his family with two young children was visited at home by people who disagreed with the cabinet’s nitrogen plans. Boswijk will be working from home for the next few days. That same evening, protesters broke through a police blockade at the home of minister Christianne van der Wal (Stikstof, VVD).
I find this very annoying for the neighbors. But luckily my kids don’t live at home anymore
Tjeerd de Groot D66 MP received a home visit while he was in The Hague
De Groot also received an unwanted visit at home this week, he says. He was not at home, he was in The Hague. “I find that very annoying for the neighbors. But luckily my children no longer live at home.” On Tuesday, the day the House of Representatives voted on dozens of nitrogen motions, he had to go outside with six security guards. De Groot wanted to talk to a few dozen farmers who demonstrated in front of the House of Representatives. “I literally can’t do my job like that. Because my job is to listen and to talk.”
Read also this report of the farmer’s demonstration at the House of Representatives
‘Attack on democracy’
On Thursday, the House of Representatives will debate the intimidation of politicians at the initiative of GroenLinks leader Jesse Klaver. Klaver talks about “an attack on democracy”. He says: “It concerns a small group of farmers who have mixed with the extreme right and with corona deniers. It’s a poisonous cocktail of people who were already violent, but have now added farm implements to it. The rest of the country must speak out against this. Criminal law offers us the scope to punish those people harshly.”
Klaver refers to Article 121 of the Penal Code, which states that anyone who hinders a parliamentarian by force or threat can be sentenced to life in prison.
Caroline van der Plas of the BoerBurgerBeweging, who has one seat but is rising sharply in polls, says like Klaver that “the democratic process is endangered” if colleagues can no longer come to The Hague for their work. “I think everyone who visits people at home should realize that.” She also says she is concerned about “the disruption” that she says a small group is after.
The unrest, she thinks, could spill over into “other groups and into the cities.” “There is a long-slumbering turmoil that goes far beyond this nitrogen crisis.” She feels it is her responsibility, as the leader of a party that many farmers seem to be hoping for, to “try to put the genie back in the bottle.” But, she says: “I don’t think I have to answer for what’s happening. It is not my actions.”
I don’t think I have to answer for what’s happening. It’s not my actions
Caroline van der Plas Member of Parliament BoerBurgerBeweging
It can be seen that the mood in The Hague is tense around the House of Representatives. There is a lot more police on the street, fences have been put up.
All MPs who deal with nitrogen and agriculture on behalf of their party were told on Wednesday in an email from the security service of the House of Representatives what to do in the event of an unwanted visit at home: leave the door closed, call 112. It also said that the NCTV has informed the local police where the MPs live – the police must pay extra attention.
Nobody is counting on a parliamentary debate to lead to a quick solution. According to Tjeerd de Groot, ‘the sand in the machine’ of democracy is too effective for that. And for that, says Jesse Klaver, the “poison” has been “pumped into” society too much. But: “Democracy must become more resilient. We must not yield to intimidation.”