Dutch Populist Farmer Citizen Movement Sweeps Election

The Farmer Citizen Movement, a right-wing populist party, has won its first provincial elections in the Netherlands, predicted to win 15 seats in the 75-seat upper house of the Dutch national parliament. The victory is seen as a rebuke to Prime Minister Mark Rutte's ruling four-party coalition, weakening the government and complicating its attempts to drastically reduce pollution from the country's agriculture, industry, and transport sectors. The BBB party's popularity soared amid mass protests by farmers, who feel unheard and unseen by politicians in The Hague.