Cobbling Together a Senate Majority as Dutch Politics Fragment

This Wednesday Dutch voters will cast their ballots for both water boards and provincial legislatures. While the former may hold more folkloric appeal to outside observers, the latter has important indirect implications for national governance. To govern effectively, Prime Minister Rutte and his cabinet need majorities in both houses of the States General. The upper house — the Senate — is elected indirectly by provincial legislators, and Mr. Rutte's four-party coalition is expected to lose its tenuous majority (38 out of 75 seats) once Wednesday's election results percolate up.