A man from the audience who unexpectedly stepped to the stage to ask a question. That was the reason that Caroline van der Plas, the leader of the BoerBurgerBeweging, stepped off the stage during a debate in Veenendaal on Friday evening and disappeared behind the scenes.
That is what Bart Kemp, foreman of the farmers’ action group Agractie, which organized the debate, says. “The man wanted to say something during a debate and walked to the stage to do so. Van der Plas did not participate in the debate at that time, but she was shocked by that man,” Kemp explains.
The farmer’s leader approached the man and explained to him that no questions could be asked by the audience during the debates. This could be done at the end of the meeting. “The man then quietly walked back to his place.”
‘Can appear threatening’
Security was present at the meeting. According to Kemp, the man did not behave aggressively. “There was really nothing wrong. People want to lose their egg. But I do understand Van der Plas. If you are threatened and something like this suddenly happens, it can come across as threatening. She briefly left the stage and walked to the back, but after a few minutes she came back and participated in the debates again.”
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Finally, something happened that made me decide to leave the stage
Afterwards, Van der Plas told Hart van Nederland ‘that she had felt very unsafe’. According to the politician, this had nothing to do with the farmers in the room, but ‘with someone who does not belong to the farmers’ and who made her feel very unsafe. “Eventually something happened that made me decide to leave the podium,” said the BBB leader.
Earlier this week, Van der Plas left the table at the talk show Inside today know not to come to the farmers’ protest in The Hague on Saturday because of threats to her address.
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