The big opposition parties CDA and D66 have begun jostling for position in the vacuum left by Tuesday’s senate elections, in which the ruling coalition lost its majority support.

The coalition has relied on three parties – D66 and two minor Christian groups – to get controversial legislation through the upper house, but the five parties now only control 36 of the 75 senate seats.

The CDA, which has 12 seats in the new-look senate, says it wants the cabinet to commit to further reducing gas production in Groningen province in return for its support.

D66, with 10 seats, wants a clear commitment to tax reforms, focusing on cutting taxes and simplifying the system.

Meanwhile, the Volkskrant writes that the ‘political fragmentation’ in the Netherlands has never been greater.

‘The greater the fragmentation of the upper chamber, the more power senators will have. The big parties – VVD, PvdA, CDA – were aware of this as they chose their candidates: all can be trusted to tow the party line,’ the paper writes.

In news magazine Elsevier, political commentator Carla Joosten concludes that the loss of a majority with the support of the ‘C3’, or constructive 3, will lead to a scramble for support among the other parties.

NRC political correspondent Emilie van Outeren agrees: ‘With 21 seats for the coalition in the senate it will have to solicit the support of CDA or GroenLinks. That will change the way this country is governed.’