Dutch police used water cannons and mounted agents in The Hague on Sunday to break up a new anti-government protest, on the eve of the start of three days of voting for the parliamentary elections, journalists from AFP.
About 20 demonstrators were arrested, police said in a statement, explaining that
"officers were forced to use force on several occasions
.
"
Hundreds of people had gathered in a city center park to voice their opposition to Prime Minister Mark Rutte, some of the criticism aimed at restrictions imposed to tackle the Covid-19 pandemic.
Police officers in riot gear, equipped with shields, batons and dogs, responded to the refusal of some to disperse at the end of the demonstration.
The mounted police then charged and the police finally used water cannons.
A sanction vote on the management of the pandemic
"Today, we are here mainly because we have elections next week and we no longer want this government,"
Elsvis Vanheenst, a 32-year-old unemployed woman, told AFP.
“Because they lie about everything and they only work for themselves, not for the people.
This is primarily why I am here today, ”
she added.
The Dutch go to the polls from Monday to Wednesday for an election seen as the popular verdict on the handling of the pandemic by Mark Rutte.
The ballot was spread over three days to ensure social distancing between voters and allow vulnerable people to vote early.
According to the polls, Mark Rutte and his liberal VVD party are on the way to obtaining a new mandate as head of a coalition government.
However, anger over the implementation in January of the first curfew in the Netherlands since World War II led to the largest riots the country has seen in decades.
