Queen's Commissioner

The Queen's Commissioner (Dutch: Commissaris van de Koningin) is the head of a province in the Netherlands, who is chairman of both the Provinciale Staten (PS; the directly elected provincial parliament) and the Gedeputeerde Staten (GS; the executive branch), but only has a right to vote in the latter. When the reigning monarch is a male, the office is King's Commissioner (Commissaris van de Koning).

In the Dutch province of Limburg, the Queen's Commissioner is usually called "Gouverneur" (governor), as in Belgium. Similarly, the "Provinciehuis" (Province Hall) at Maastricht is called "Gouvernement" (Governor's Residence). This local custom arose from the particular status of the current province in the nineteenth century.

There are two levels of local government in The Netherlands: the provinces and the municipalities. The twelve provinces form the tier of administration between central government and the municipalities. The three tiers are organised in largely the same way, with a directly elected parliament, which in turn chooses the executive branch, headed by a non-democratically chosen chairman. On the national and municipal level these are the king and the mayor, on the provincial level it's the King's Commissione (it should be noted though that the king has no political power, the 'political head of state' is the Prime Minister (Minister President) similar to the United Kingdom).

Each province is governed by the Provinciale Staten ('PS'), who in turn choose the Gedeputeerde Staten ('GS'). The members of PS are elected directly every four years. Its main tasks are to decide policies and to oversee their implementation by the GS. Each member of the council has a vote and decisions are taken by majority vote of the members present. Council members usually have an ordinary job and undertake their council duties in their spare time. They receive an attendance allowance. Membership of GS is a full time job.

Tasks of the Queen's Commissioner

The Queen's Commissioner is not elected by the residents of the province, but appointed by the Dutch Crown (the ministers, presided over by the reigning king or queen), for a term of six years, which may be extended by a second term. The Queen's Commissioner can be dismissed only by the Dutch Crown. When a vacancy arises, the provincial council gives the Minister of the Interior a profile of the kind of candidate it would like to see in the job. Although all Queen's Commissioners are prominent members of one or other of the major national political parties, their actions are expected to be politically impartial while they are in office.

Queen's Commissioners play a role within the provincial administration and are the official representatives of central government in the provinces. They coordinate disaster management and prevention and pay regular official visits to the municipalities in their region.

Queen's Commissioners play an important part in the appointment of municipal mayors. When a vacancy arises, the Queen's Commissioner first asks the municipal council for its views as to a successor, then writes to the Minister of the Interior recommending a candidate. Since Queen's Commissioners are both the chairs and full members of the provincial executives, they may include some of the executive's tasks in their portfolio. They also oversee the official apparatus and any provincial utilities and represent the province in its dealings with business.

Queen's Commissioners

References

External links

• (Dutch) Official site