The historic election result still reverberates in the political landscape. The BoerBurgerBeweging (BBB) of Caroline van der Plas won eleven seats in the Provincial Council in Brabant. The next phase has started with the appointment of a scout. A number of protagonists tried on Sunday afternoon in the talk show KRAAK. of Omroep Brabant to find out what makes the BBB so popular.
John Frenken is the leader of the BoerBurgerBeweging in Brabant. He does not think that the high number of votes can be explained by protest votes. “That is too negative, we want to be more positive. With us, the glass is half full.” There he hits a chord with Nico Heijmans of the SP, who thinks a lot more positively about protest votes.
“The voter is tired of the current way of doing politics. We can blame ourselves for that.”
“You shouldn’t explain protest votes so negatively,” says the SP leader. “They are worth as much as a non-protest vote. I think by voting for the BBB people have really shown that they are tired of the current way of doing politics. I certainly wouldn’t be ashamed of that.”
Jade van der Linden of GroenLinks does not feel appealed by the suggestion that voters are tired of the established order. “I don’t think GroenLinks has done anything wrong. We have retained our seats and have been rewarded for our cooperation with the PvdA. We have nine seats and can make a difference in the coming period.”
But she does have an explanation for BBB’s popularity. “The voter apparently needs a different voice. Not everyone feels heard,” says Van der Linden.
Heijmans puts his hand in his own bosom: “People have heard the word crisis so often in recent years and they really hate uncertainty. They blame the politicians for that. And rightly so. You can also blame us for that. Then we have something not well done, otherwise we would have had those seats. We have to think for ourselves.”
“The voter has recognized herself in her and how she behaves, she is the face after all.”
“It’s because of Caroline,” says Frenken. “People have recognized themselves in her, because she is the face after all, and how she presents herself. People think: that’s what we’re looking for. We want to participate in what she does.”
Explorer Sacha Ausems will start exploratory talks on Monday for a possible coalition in Brabant. The entire conversation between the three politicians can be seen in KRAAK.
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