Second Chamber of the States General
logo | Parliament building |
---|---|
Basic data | |
Seat: |
Binnenhof , The Hague |
Legislative period : | 4 years |
First session: | 1815 |
MPs: | 150 |
Current legislative period | |
Last choice: | 15th March 2017 |
Chair: | Khadija Arib ( PvdA ) |
Distribution of seats: |
Government (75)
|
Website | |
www.tweedekamer.nl |
The Second Chamber of the States General ( Dutch : Tweede Kamer der Staten-Generaal , ) is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of the Netherlands . It is usually elected every four years by Dutch citizens over the age of 18, based on almost purely proportional representation . The Chamber always has 150 seats and meets in The Hague .
The Second Chamber is the actual legislative body, while the First Chamber of the States General can only approve or reject bills. The political balance of power in the Second Chamber is crucial for the formation of a government, and since 2012 the Second Chamber (previously the Queen) has appointed a person who is entrusted with the composition of the cabinet.
The chairman has been Khadija Arib from the Partij van de Arbeid (PvdA) since January 13, 2016 .
Tasks and organization
The second chamber is the more important of the parliamentary chambers. The MPs advise and pass laws and control the government. Members of the government are not allowed to hold a parliamentary mandate, unless the government only serves on a provisional basis until a successor government is appointed.
If there is a vacancy on the High Council (Hoge Raad der Nederlanden), the highest Dutch court, the Second Chamber of Government makes three proposals for its occupation. The Chamber also elects the Ombudsman of the Netherlands.
By 1983 the Chamber had presented the Crown with a list of three candidates for the chairmanship of the Chamber, from which the Crown selected one. In practice, this was usually the first name. Since then, however , the Tweede Kamervoorzitter has been determined directly by the MPs in a secret ballot. Although this is traditionally the candidate of the largest political group, in recent years candidates from other political groups have often received a majority. On March 29, 2017, Khadija Arib from the seventh strongest Partij van de Arbeid (PvdA) was elected chairman of the chamber.
The chairman and his deputy together form the presidium , which determines the working methods and planning of the chamber. Under the Presidium, Griffier works as head of administration.
Distribution of seats
15 parliamentary groups have existed since 2019:
logo | Political party | Alignment | Group leader | Seats | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
after the election |
current | +/- | |||||
Volkspartij voor Vrijheid en Democratie (VVD) People's Party for Freedom and Democracy |
right-wing liberal | Klaas Dijkhoff | 33 | 32 | 1 | ||
Partij voor de Vrijheid (PVV) Party for Freedom |
right-wing populist | Geert Wilders | 20th | 20th | |||
Christen Democratisch Appèl (CDA) Christian Democratic Appeal |
Christian Democratic | Pieter Heerma | 19th | 19th | |||
Democrats 66 (D66) Democrats 66 |
social liberal | Rob Jetten | 19th | 19th | |||
GroenLinks (GL) GreenLinks |
green | Jesse Klaver | 14th | 14th | |||
Socialist Partij (SP) Socialist Party |
Left | Lilian Marijhnen | 14th | 14th | |||
Partij van de Arbeid (PvdA) Labor Party |
social democratic | Lodewijk Asscher | 9 | 9 | |||
ChristenUnie (CU) ChristenUnion |
Christian Democratic , Calvinist | Gert-Jan Segers | 5 | 5 | |||
Partij voor de Dieren (PvdD) Party for the animals |
Animal rights | Esther Ouwehand | 5 | 4th | 1 | ||
50PLUS (50+) | Interests of the older generation | Corrie van Brenk | 4th | 3 | 1 | ||
Staatkundig Gereformeerde Partij (SGP) Reformed Political Party |
radically conservative , Calvinist | Kees van der Staaij | 3 | 3 | |||
DENK (DENK) think / equivalent (from Turkish ) |
Interests of migrants | Farid Azarkan | 3 | 3 | |||
Forum voor Democratie (FVD) Forum for Democracy |
EU-skeptical , right-wing populist | Thierry Baudet | 2 | 2 | |||
Groep Krol (Groep Krol) | Henk Krol | - | 1 | 1 | |||
Lid Van Haga (LvHA) | liberal |
Wybren van Haga excluded from the VVD group |
- | 1 | 1 | ||
Groep Van Kooten-Arissen (Groep vKA) | Femke Merel van Kooten-Arissen | - | 1 | 1 | |||
total | 150 | 150 |
On average between 1994 and 2010, 9.8 parties were represented in the Chamber (counted at the beginning of each legislative period).
Parliamentary manners
In the Second Chamber, the members do not address each other directly, but always through the chairman. So in the chamber one does not hear the address "Dear Sir or Madam"; the chairman (or chairperson) is formally the only person who is addressed: Voorzitter , possibly Meneer de Voorzitter or Mevrouw de Voorzitter (generic masculine form), the feminine form voorzitster is not used.
A member of parliament who, for example, wants to put a question to a minister, steps up to the desk for the interruptie , turns formally to the chairman and speaks of the minister in the third person. In practice, however, the salutation Voorzitter is often left out , especially in the case of an interruptie , and ministers and MPs speak more or less directly to one another.
The meetings of the chamber are tightly organized, there are no interfering calls. However, many interrupties can cause long meetings, although the chairman tries not to let them get out of hand with too many inquiries.
See also
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Second Chamber: Fracties
- ↑ Tweedekamer.nl , accessed on May 21, 2010.
Coordinates: 52 ° 4 ′ 47 " N , 4 ° 18 ′ 53" E