All eyes are on the BoerBurgerBeweging (BBB) in these provincial elections. Party leader in the House of Representatives Caroline van der Plas is the face of the campaign and knows that her party is the main challenger. NU.nl spoke to her extensively. “You shouldn’t have 150 Carolines in the Chamber.”
You are inseparable from the media. Is this campaign debilitating?
“You have to make sure you sleep well. That usually works. But it is indeed debilitating.”
“In the past it happened once that I became dizzy and started to see double just before a debate. That was due to the hard work. Fortunately, I have not experienced that now.”
You mentioned earlier that BBB is now the big challenger. Is this campaign more intense in terms of crowds?
“Well, you know… what makes it intense is the hatred. We didn’t experience that last time. There is more resistance. Also from the Chamber.”
“So much dredging is poured out on us. Via social media and e-mails I am then told that I am a ‘farmer traitor’. I am called a ‘cartel whore’, or a ‘WEF-puppet‘.”
World Economic Forum. Cartel. Are we talking about FVD?
“That’s right. I’m not afraid to say it that way either. But also from the left, mind you. D66 has also targeted me in recent weeks.”
Do you also experience hatred from D66?
“No, but there are also people in their rank and file who dismiss me as a fascist, Nazi and extreme right.”
“I can still deal with what MPs do, and I can also joke about it. But I recently said to Jan Paternotte (group leader D66 in the House of Representatives, ed.): ‘I don’t know what you are doing, but we’re only getting members. Focus on your own points!'”
Wil jij regelmatig worden bijgepraat over de Provinciale Statenverkiezingen?
Do you ever address FVD members in the Chamber about their statements?
“At the end of February, still in a nitrogen debate. Gideon van Meijeren (FVD Member of Parliament, ed.) Said that I am not there for the farmers and so on. He went on and on. Then I said: ‘Do you realize that your statements have consequences for people ‘.”
“They don’t care, because they just keep going.”
You often talk about the discontent in the country. Will BBB become a protest party?
“Of course protest votes will go to us. But I notice in my supporters that people like it that someone in the Chamber speaks normal language and puts small things on the agenda.”
Where do you think the dissatisfaction comes from?
“People want to feel heard and seen. I get hundreds of emails a day, about fourteen hundred a week. Many from concerned citizens.”
“I read them all. People who address me directly or ask a question, I try to answer all of them. Even if I can’t do anything for them. Some are amazed that I email back at all. They’re not used to that. I’m not saying I I’m the only politician who does that.”
Just a step back. Why do you think these people email politicians?
“They can’t put it anywhere else.”
But why are those people angry or dissatisfied at all?
“Because they run into a wall of bureaucracy. They feel they have been treated unfairly.”
This week, various studies showed that the Netherlands has persistent inequality and that poverty is increasing. Doesn’t that play a much bigger role in the dissatisfaction?
“That depends. I also often speak to entrepreneurs. They get so tired of all those extra rules they have to deal with.”
“But they often manage. I mainly get a lot of e-mails from people who have a problem with benefits or benefits. The National Ombudsman says: the government is there for the citizen and not the other way around. I fully agree with that. “
And you want to change all that?
“Yes. But I don’t have a magic wand.”
It’s not that simple to manage large government projects such as the strengthening operation in Groningen or the compensation for benefit parents, is it? You can’t solve that in a year, can you?
“No. But I do ask questions, for example, why policy is made on the basis of distrust. Because that is what is happening in Groningen now. The government is afraid that people will also receive money who may not be entitled to it.”
“I understand that there are protocols. I’m not saying that you should just transfer thousands of euros. But let’s just assume that most people are good. Then you also need less regulation.”
BBB is going to change all that?
“As representatives of the people, we must be much more aware of what we are doing.”
It’s quite an assignment.
“I think the crisis of confidence is the biggest crisis we are dealing with. Because really, I mean it: our democracy can be broken. I’m not saying that the House of Representatives will be stormed tomorrow, but I sometimes worry that the gap between government and citizens is widening.”
Who is responsible for that distrust?
“All of us. Politicians in The Hague, the provinces and municipalities.”
This is no longer just about the interests of farmers, the spearhead with which you entered the House in 2021.
“No, that’s right. That feeling has gradually become stronger. There is too little attention for the people in the region. Quite apart from the nitrogen problem. People are leaving because of poor facilities. What is minor in The Hague is for those people great pain.”
“I’ve also been getting a lot of positive reactions lately from Dutch people with a Turkish or Moroccan background. This week, for example, three Moroccan young men at a gas station again. ‘Hey Mrs. Van der Plas! I’m going to vote for you!’, they shouted. chatted for a while.”
Your election program for the House of Representatives in 2021 only contains a very small sentence about discrimination. The list for the House of Representatives was not diverse if you look at a non-Western background. So where does that come from?
“I wonder that too. You would say that they mainly vote for Denk. I heard from someone from the Turkish community that strong women are loved in that culture. Someone who bangs her hand on the table and says: ‘Now everyone shut up.'”
There is persistent discrimination in many places in society. You’re not making a big deal out of this.
“It is indeed not a spearhead, but we do not consider it unimportant. We do not make policy on it. But I do debate these kinds of subjects with an open mind.”
“Recently during the debate about apologies for the slavery past. I used to think that was nonsense. But I found out that proponents have a point. Then I adjust my position.”
“I could easily not have gone to that debate. Because I know that there are people in my ranks who think the excuses are ridiculous nonsense. Then I am vulnerable.”
If the polls are correct, your supporters will become larger and perhaps more diverse. Does that affect your views?
“I don’t think there is a big difference between the rural people and people who just want to drink a beer in the city, take care of their mother and light an Easter bonfire.”
So there is no gap at all between the city and the countryside?
“The gap is mainly between citizens and politicians.”
If BBB wins seats, will you unite the people in discontent?
“I find that a difficult one. Maybe those people think: she could do something about that dissatisfaction. Because she has been in politics for two years and is still the same as on day one. No pumps, no jargon, approachable.”
So you don’t see yourself as Hague. How will you make sure you don’t become one?
“I don’t know how to become Hague. That’s not in me at all. My children have been saying from the start: ‘When I see you in the Chamber, you’re just my mother.’ I’m just like at home. That’s hard for some to understand.”
“People think it’s all strategy, but that’s really not the case. I wish there were more people like that in The Hague. But you shouldn’t have 150 Carolines in the Chamber either, then it will get a bit restless.”
