THE Dutch perpetuated their reputation for quaintness on Wednesday by holding national waterschapsverkiezingen (“water-scape elections”), choosing administrators for the dikes and canals that prevent their low-lying country from sinking into a swampy morass. They also voted for the country’s provincial assemblies, and that election threatens to drag the country into a different sort of morass. In the provincial assemblies, which choose the country’s senate, the six largest parties each received between 10% and 16% of the vote. This splintering of the senate may make it impossible for the centrist government to get anything done. Like voters across much of Europe, the Dutch are turning away from the traditional parties of power, and creating an ever more complicated political landscape.

The Dutch case is especially confusing because, while voters have turned against the government, they have not actually turned to the right or left. Since 2012 the Netherlands has been ruled by a grand coalition of the centre-right Liberals and the centre-left Labour Party. The government never had a majority in the senate, and to get its programme passed it has allied with three other parties, each of which demanded concessions. It has pushed through ambitious housing reforms and deficit-cutting measures, but those measures have not been popular, even among its own voters. Liberal voters have had to swallow excise tax hikes. Labour voters feel their party is implementing the austerity policies of the right. A stagnant economy and high unemployment have not helped.

Because the government is centrist, opposition to its policies has scattered voters in every direction. Both parties were punished on Wednesday, but Labour was hit hardest. The changes will not be official until the provincial assembly deputies vote in May, but based on the election results, Labour will drop from 14 seats to just eight in the 75-seat senate. The Liberals remain the largest party, but will fall from 16 seats to 13. The biggest winners were the centre-right Christian Democrats, who will have 12 seats, and the left-liberal D66 party, who will go from five to 10. There was less action on the fringes. The far-right Party for Freedom of Geert Wilders dropped from 10 senators to nine, while the far-left Socialist Party rose from eight to nine.

That only accounts for the top six of the 12 parties. Among the smaller ones, GreenLeft lost a senator, the Party for the Animals won one, and the more religious Christian parties did well. The fact that the unapologetically left-wing Socialists have outpaced centrist Labour, for the first time, is seen as significant. But for the most part, Dutch voters voiced their discontent with the centrist government by voting for the centrist opposition.

The next big step on the government’s agenda is tax reform. Labour and the Liberals both want to reward work by cutting the Netherlands' high income tax rates, which currently reach 42% for those earning €33,589 ($35,922) per year, and 52% for those making €57,585 or more. But it is hard to see how the government can put together a majority in the senate. Mark Rutte, the prime minister, optimistically predicted that the splintering of the senate means that “every party must take responsibility” for helping to pass legislation. But both D66 and the Christian Democrats can now "make or break any deal", says André Krouwel, a political analyst. While D66 has worked with the government, the Christian Democrats have refused to.

Much of the voters’ frustration stems from austerity measures the government has enacted over the past two years, such as cuts in health benefits and hikes in excise taxes. But the elections have actually strengthened the political forces demanding austerity. Both D66 and the Christian Democrats insist that the government commit in advance to new deficit-cutting measures to balance out any tax cuts. That is anathema to Labour.

The Liberals and Labour may yet manage to cobble together temporary alliances of other parties to push bills through. Meanwhile, the economy is improving; the official government forecaster predicts 1.7% growth this year, and consumer sentiment has turned positive for the first time since 2007. If the senate grinds to a halt, the improving economy could tempt the government (particularly the less unpopular Liberals) to take its chances on new elections to the lower house of parliament. Perhaps next time Dutch voters will send a less confused message.

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