Senate may not support government's budget day plans
It is uncertain whether the plans the Schoof I Cabinet presented on Budget Day will receive sufficient support in the Eerste Kamer, the Telegraaf reports after surveying the Senators. The PVV, VVD, NSC, and BBB don’t have a majority in the Eerste Kamer and require support from the opposition to get plans through. But particularly on asylum, that support will be hard to find.
The Eerste Kamer, the Dutch Senate, will debate the budget on Tuesday. “It is very unusual for a budget to fail, but if there was ever an opportunity, it is now,” D66 Senator Paul van Meenen told the newspaper.
The coalition is mainly counting on the right-wing, conservative Christian parties. The CDA, SGP, and ChristenUnie have a joint 11 seats—enough for a majority. However, the CDA and SGP are not at all convinced by the Cabinet’s plan to declare an asylum crisis and thereby sideline parliament in implementing emergency measures. The VVD faction in the Eerste Kamer also has doubts on this topic.
In a crisis situation, the government can implement measures, and the Tweede Kamer, the lower house of the Dutch parliament, only votes on those measures three months after the fact. Opponents of declaring an asylum crisis are more in favor of urgent legislation in this field - passing laws through the Tweede Kamer and Eerste Kamer at an accelerated pace. Though PVV leader Geert Wilders is vehemently against this plan, worrying that legislation will get stranded in the Senate.
“We are going to critically review all proposals,” CDA Senator Madeleine van Toorenburg said. She called it strange that the government wants to bypass parliament with an emergency law on asylum, while at the behest of the NSC, the government program also advocates for the constitutional court to review that same law.
The SGP is also critical of declaring an asylum crisis with emergency legislation and would rather consider urgent legislation that does not bypass parliament. “We believe the influx of asylum seekers must be contained via a route that is as good as possible. As far as I am concerned, that is the urgent law,” faction leader Peter Schalk told the newspaper. He added that he was willing to consider Asylum Minister Marjolein Faber’s plans.
It is also highly questionable whether the Cabinet can count on the support of coalition party VVD in the Eerste Kamer. The liberal Senators previously supported the asylum distribution law after the VVD in parliament voted against it. VVD leader in the Senate, Edith Schippers, would not comment much to the Telegraaf. “There is not even a Cabinet decision yet. It is not our turn.”
The Rutte IV Cabinet also did not have a majority in the Eerste Kamer but could often seek support from the left and the right. The PVV, VVD, NSC, and BBB coalition seem to be mainly dependent on support from the right.
The center and left-wing opposition parties are critical of more than just the asylum plans. “They will have to fight for a majority here,” D66 Senator Paul van Meenen told the newspaper. “Ultimately, something is only a law if it has also been passed here. There are a few things that I do not see happening soon. For example, the cutbacs in education, the VAT increase, the fine for studying too long, and the cutbacks in science. I will not vote for them.”
