The 75 members of the new Senate were elected on Tuesday afternoon. As expected, the BoerBurgerBeweging (BBB) has become the largest with sixteen seats. The coalition has won two additional seats. As a result, the cabinet can also cooperate ‘across the left’ with the merger party GL/PvdA.
The coalition of VVD, D66, CDA and ChristenUnie won 24 seats. That is 14 too few for a majority in the Senate. The joint group of GroenLinks and PvdA can deliver exactly these seats. Together, these parties won 14 seats.
The senators are elected by the members of the Provincial Council elected in March. The Senate is elected in stages in the Netherlands. A total of 616 people cast their vote on Tuesday afternoon.
After the provincial elections in March, it was already clear that the BBB would become the largest party in the senate. The party became the largest in all twelve provinces. This would translate into 17 members of the Senate. The coalition would end up with 22 seats, the forecast showed.
But the coalition parties managed to win two important extra seats. CDA and CU would receive five and two seats respectively, but through tactical negotiations they end up with six and three seats.
Hoe werkt het onderhandelen?
Elke partij heeft een bepaald aantal stemmen nodig voor één zetel. Dat aantal wordt bepaald door de kiesdeler, die bijvoorbeeld uitkomt op 25. Een partij die honderd stemmen krijgt, komt dan uit op vier zetels.
Maar over het algemeen komt het nooit afgerond uit. Een partij die bijvoorbeeld 120 stemmen krijgt, komt dan uit op vier zetels én twintig overige stemmen. Deze overige stemmen tellen op tot de restzetels.
Over een aantal van deze restzetels wordt elke vier jaar flink onderhandeld. Zo kan de coalitie onderling afspreken dat Statenleden niet op hun eigen partij stemmen, om zo een andere partij aan zo’n extra restzetel te helpen. Ook de oppositie kan zulke deals sluiten.
Coalition can go ‘left’ and ‘right’
With the two extra seats, the coalition is still nowhere near a majority. It is necessary for the passing of laws. The government must seek support from the opposition for this. Prime Minister Mark Rutte has become accustomed to this in recent years. Already in 2010 he had to deal with that situation.
The four Rutte cabinets always did business with different parties. Sometimes per subject, then again with a fixed group of parties. During the last cabinet period, the cabinet often received support from PvdA and/or GroenLinks. These parties, which now form a joint parliamentary group, can also help the government gain a majority in the senate in the coming years.
The BBB also has enough senators to add up to a majority of 38 seats together with the coalition. The cabinet can therefore do business on both the left and the right.
GroenLinks Zuid-Holland expels Member of Parliament after vote for Volt
Not only members of parliament from coalition parties did not vote for their own party on Tuesday. In South Holland, GroenLinks has expelled Debora Fernald from the party after the Member of Parliament voted for Volt.
Because of her vote, the Senate faction of GroenLinks and PvdA lost a seat. The left-wing parties would end up with fifteen seats, but may now provide fourteen senators. This has given Volt an extra seat in the Senate.
2023-05-30 14:21:28
#Final #result #Senate #coalition #wins #important #extra #seats #Politics
