Speaker of the House of Representatives (Netherlands)

Speaker of the House of Representatives
Voorzitter van de Tweede Kamer der Staten-Generaal

Coat of arms of the House of Representatives
Khadija Arib
Incumbent
Khadija Arib
since 13 January 2016
Style His or Her Excellency
Mister or Madame Speaker
Member of Presidium of the House of Representatives
Term length Four years
No term limit
Constituting instrument Constitution of the Netherlands
Formation 21 September 1815 (1815-09-21)
First holder Jan Elias Nicolaas van Lynden van Hoevelaken
Deputy Deputy Speakers
Salary €126,975.48 (including €7,887.24 expenses)
Website www.houseofrepresentatives.nl/members-parliament/president-house

The Speaker of the House of Representatives (Dutch: Voorzitter van de Tweede Kamer der Staten-Generaal) is one of the 150 Members of the Dutch House of Representatives and is elected to lead the meetings of the House. They are also chairing the Presidium and the Procedure Committee (Commissie van de Werkwijze).

The office is currently held by Khadija Arib of the Labour Party (PvdA).[1] She was elected on 13 January 2016 in an interim election, after Speaker Anouchka van Miltenburg of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) resigned on 12 December 2015.[2] She was First Deputy and acting Speaker until her election.[3]

Duties

As a Member of the House of Representatives, the Speaker inherits the same rights and obligations. The Speaker leads the meetings of the House. This means that they open and close the meetings and at meetings determines who speaks. The Members of the House and the Cabinet ministers and State secretaries never speak directly against each other but always through or to the Speaker. One reason for this is that it theoretically impossible to be angry at the person with whom one is in debate. One finally speaks against the Speaker who is impartial.

The Speaker's chair is higher than the other seats.
Kingdom of the Netherlands
Azure, billetty Or a lion with a coronet Or armed and langued Gules holding in his dexter paw a sword Argent hilted Or and in the sinister paw seven arrows Argent pointed and bound together Or. [The seven arrows stand for the seven provinces of the Union of Utrecht.] The shield is crowned with the (Dutch) royal crown and supported by two lions Or armed and langued gules. They stand on a scroll Azure with the text (Or) "Je Maintiendrai" (French for "I will maintain".)
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Like all other Members of the House, the Speaker also takes part in the voting. Besides leading the meetings, the Speaker represents the House as a whole, such as in ceremonies and with visits by foreign heads of state. As chair of the Presidium they also play a role in determining the budget of the House, setting its agenda and appointing its staff.

The Speaker is supported in their duties by Deputy Speakers, ranked by number in order of precedence, which also are Members of the House. In the event that the Speaker is unable to fulfil their duties or the position becomes vacant, the meeting is chaired by the First Deputy Speaker.

The Speaker has a seat with a backrest that is higher than the other seats in the House.

Election

The Speaker is elected by the Members of the House. Such an election takes place shortly after a general election or after the position became vacant. The House adopts a profile that outlines the desired qualities that potential candidates should have, such as prior experience and personal traits. The profile is not binding, however. Members can submit their candidacy, but this is not required.[4]

The election itself requires the participation of at least 76 Members. To win the election, a Member needs to obtain an absolute majority of the votes cast (more than 50%). The voting takes place by open and secret ballot, which means that Members have to write down the name of the preferred Member themselves and that the vote is not disclosed. Members can choose between writing down the name of one of the candidates, the name of any other Member (whether they are standing or not), something invalid or nothing at all.[4]

An election requires multiple voting rounds when no Member wins an absolute majority. If there is no winner after two rounds, then the rules of voting are different. In the third round, the list of Members who were voted for in the second round is definitive. In addition, the number of eligible Members is limited, depending on the number of Members who received votes in the second round. If fewer than five Members received votes then all Members except the two frontrunners are eliminated from the election, otherwise only four frontrunners remain. In the fourth round, only the two frontrunners are eligible, any other votes are deemed invalid. If both Members have the same number of votes, the election is decided by lot.[4]

Presidium

Speaker of the House of
Representatives		 Party Service as Speaker Service as a Member of
the House of Representatives
Khadija Arib
(born 1960)		 Labour Party
(PvdA)		 13 January 2016
(1 year, 224 days)		 1 March 2007
(10 years, 177 days)
19 May 1998 – 30 November 2006
(8 years, 195 days)
First Deputy Speaker of the
House of Representatives		 Party Service as
First Deputy Speaker		 Service as a Member of
the House of Representatives
Ton Elias
(born 1955)		 People's Party for Freedom and Democracy
(VVD)		 13 January 2016
(1 year, 224 days)		 18 December 2008
(8 years, 250 days)
Second Deputy Speaker of the
House of Representatives		 Party Service as
Second Deputy Speaker		 Service as a Member of
the House of Representatives
Martin Bosma
(born 1964)		 Party for Freedom
(PVV)		 30 June 2010
(7 years, 148 days)		 30 November 2006
(10 years, 268 days)
Third Deputy Speaker of the
House of Representatives		 Party Service as
Third Deputy Speaker		 Service as a Member of
the House of Representatives
Ronald van Raak
(born 1969)		 Socialist Party
(SP)		 23 June 2010
(7 years, 155 days)		 30 November 2006
(10 years, 268 days)
Fourth Deputy Speaker of the
House of Representatives		 Party Service as
Fourth Deputy Speaker		 Service as a Member of
the House of Representatives
Raymond Knops
(born 1971)		 Christian Democratic Appeal
(CDA)		 26 September 2012
(4 years, 333 days)		 7 September 2010
(4 years, 352 days)
1 March 2007 – 17 June 2010
(3 years, 108 days)
11 October 2005 – 30 November 2006
(1 year, 50 days)
Fifth Deputy Speaker of the
House of Representatives		 Party Service as
Fifth Deputy Speaker		 Service as a Member of
the House of Representatives
Stientje van Veldhoven
(born 1973)		 Democrats 66
(D66)		 20 September 2012
(4 years, 339 days)		 17 June 2010
(7 years, 69 days)
Sixth Deputy Speaker of the
House of Representatives		 Party Service as
Sixth Deputy Speaker		 Service as a Member of
the House of Representatives
Joël Voordewind
(born 1965)		 ChristianUnion
(CU)		 20 September 2012
(4 years, 339 days)		 30 November 2006
(10 years, 268 days)

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Khadija Arib elected Speaker of the House". House of Representatives. 13 January 2016. Retrieved 14 January 2016.
  2. ↑ "Ms Anouchka van Miltenburg, Speaker of the House resigns". House of Representatives. 12 December 2015. Retrieved 18 December 2015.
  3. ↑ Van den Dool, Pim (15 December 2015). "Kamer kiest op 13 januari een nieuwe voorzitter" [House elects a new Speaker on 13 January]. NRC Handelsblad (in Dutch). Retrieved 18 December 2015.
  4. 1 2 3 "Voorzitter Tweede Kamer - verkiezingen" [Speaker House of Representatives - elections]. Parlement & Politiek (in Dutch). Retrieved 13 February 2016.
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