Thursday, 19 March 2015 - 08:14
Cabinet likely needs help in the Senate
With more than 97 percent of the votes counted last night, it seems very likely that the cabinet will need the help of another party in the Eerste Kamer, the Dutch Senate. The projected results of the Provincial Elections 2015 stand as follows:
The coalition along with the D66, ChristenUnie and SGP lost their majority in the Eerste Kamer with only 36 of the 75 seats. This means that the cabinet will have to find support from other parties. The governing parties VVD and PvdA seems to have lost the confidence of many voters halfway through the ride of their cabinet, losing a total of nine seats so far. The allied opposition parties did a lot better, gaining seven seats between them. The most likely candidates for the extra help seem to be either the CDA or GroenLinks. But CDA leader Sybrand Buma has been reluctant to pledge his support during recent debates and GroenLinks leader Bram van Ojik seems to be keeping his party's options open for the time being.
The VVD remains the largest party in the Eerste Kamer with 13 seats, only one seat more than the CDA.
With 10 seats, the D66 went from the 6th largest party in 2011 to the third-largest party in the Eerste Kamer this year. The PvdA, on the other hand, lost a lot of ground, going from end largest party in 2011 to only the sixth-largest party in 2015.
Party | 2011 seats won | 2015 seats won (proj.) | Change |
VVD | 16 | 13 | -3 |
PvdA | 14 | 8 | -6 |
CDA | 11 | 12 | +1 |
PVV | 10 | 9 | -1 |
SP | 8 | 9 | +1 |
D66 | 5 | 10 | +5 |
GroenLinks | 5 | 4 | -1 |
CU/SGP | 3 | 5 | +2 |
50Plus | 1 | 2 | +1 |
Partij voor de Dieren | 1 | 2 | +1 |
OSF | 1 | 1 | 0 |