Gov't To Find Policy Enactment Tough After Local Election Losses

The four parties that form the Dutch government suffered notable losses in the provincial elections held on 15 March in what could prove a blow to the ability of Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s government to implement its policies nationwide. The main ‘winner’ of the election to the 12 provincial councils (or ‘States Provincial’) was the agrarian-populist Farmer-Citizen Movement (BBB), which according to provisional results won a plurality of seats nationally, came in first place in nine provinces and joint-first in three.

• The elections should not be dismissed as a mere regional vote, with the implications for Dutch politics and the ability of the government to enact its policy agenda likely to prove significant. It is the make-up of the States Provincial that determines the composition of the upper chamber of the Dutch Parliament, the Senate (Eerste Kamer) via an indirect election.

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MNI POLITICAL RISK-Governing Parties Suffer Sizeable Losses In Dutch Provincial Election.pdf