House of Representatives (Netherlands)
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House of Representatives Tweede Kamer der Staten-Generaal | |
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States General of the Netherlands | |
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Type | |
Type | |
Leadership | |
Structure | |
Seats | 150 |
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Political groups | Government (demissionary) (78)[1]
Opposition parties (72) |
Elections | |
Party-list proportional representation D'Hondt method | |
Last election | 17 March 2021 |
Next election | In or before March 2025 |
Meeting place | |
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Binnenhof The Hague, Netherlands | |
Website | |
House of Representatives |
The House of Representatives (Dutch: Tweede Kamer der Staten-Generaal, pronounced [ˈtʋeːdə ˈkaːmər dɛr ˈstaːtə(n) ˌɣeːnəˈraːl] ; commonly referred to as the Tweede Kamer, literally Second Chamber of the States General) is the lower house of the bicameral parliament of the Netherlands, the States General, the other one being the Senate. It has 150 seats, which are filled through elections using a party-list proportional representation. It sits in the Binnenhof in The Hague.
Name
Although this body is officially called the "House of Representatives" in English, this is not a direct translation of its official Dutch name, the "Second Chamber of the States General", "Second Chamber" or more colloquially just the "Chamber". Rather than "representatives" (afgevaardigden), members of the House are referred to as Tweede Kamerlid ("member of the Second Chamber").
Functions
The House of Representatives is the main legislative body of the States General, where discussion of proposed legislation and review of the actions of the cabinet takes place. Both the Cabinet and the House of Representatives itself have the right to propose legislation; the House of Representatives discusses it and, if adopted by a majority, sends it on to the Senate. Review of the actions of the cabinet takes the form of formal interrogations, which may result in motions urging the cabinet to take, or refrain from, certain actions. No individual may be a member of both parliament and cabinet, except in a caretaker cabinet that has not yet been succeeded when a new House is sworn in.
The House of Representatives is also responsible for the first round of selection for judges to the Supreme Court of the Netherlands. It submits a list of three names for every vacant position to the Government. Furthermore, it elects the Dutch Ombudsman and their subsidiaries.
Elections
The normal term of the House of Representatives is four years. Elections are called when the government loses parliament's confidence, the governing coalition breaks down, the term of the House of Representatives expires or when no governing coalition can be formed.
Parties
Anybody eligible to vote in the Netherlands also has the right to establish a political party and contest elections for the House of Representatives. Parties wanting to take part must register 43 days before the elections, supplying a nationwide list of at most 50 candidates (80 if the party already has more than 15 seats). Parties that do not have any sitting candidates in the House of Representatives must also pay a deposit (11,250 euro for the November 2006 elections, for all districts together) and provide 30 signatures of support from residents of each of the 20 electoral districts in which they want to collect votes.
Party lists
The candidate lists are placed in the hands of the voters at least 14 days before the election. Each candidate list is numbered, with the person in the first position known as the lijsttrekker ("list puller"). The lijsttrekker is usually appointed by the party to lead its election campaign, and is almost always the party's political leader and candidate for Prime Minister. Parties may choose to compete with different candidate lists in each of the 20 electoral districts, but as seats are allocated on national rather than district level, most parties have almost identical lists in all districts with candidates running nationwide. Only large parties usually have some regional candidates at the bottom of their lists. From 1973 until abolition in June 2017 it was possible for two or more parties to combine their separate lists to increase the chance of winning a remainder seat. This was known as a 'list combination' or Lijstverbinding / lijstencombinatie.[2]
Registration and voting
Citizens of the Kingdom of the Netherlands aged 18 or over have the right to vote, with the exception of 1) prisoners serving a term of more than one year 2) those who have been declared incapable by court because of insanity 3) residents of Aruba, Curaçao and Sint Maarten, unless they have spent ten years residing in the Netherlands or work for the Dutch civil service.[3] Eligible citizens resident in the Netherlands are able to vote if they are registered on a municipal population register (Basisregistratie Personen). Eligible citizens outside the Netherlands can permanently register to vote at the municipality of The Hague, provided they have a current Dutch passport or identity card.
A single vote can be placed on any one candidate. Many voters select one of the lijsttrekkers (Jan Peter Balkenende, for example, received 2,198,114 of the CDA's 2,608,573 votes in the November 2006 elections), but alternatively a preference vote may be made for a candidate lower down the list.
Allocation of seats
Once the election results are known, the seats are allocated to the parties. The number of valid national votes cast is divided by 150, the number of seats available, to give a threshold for each seat (the kiesdeler); 1/150th is approximately 0.67% of the valid votes. Each party's number of votes is divided by this threshold, and rounded down to the nearest whole number, to give an initial number of seats equal to the number of times the threshold was reached.[4] Any party that received fewer votes than the threshold fails to gain representation in the House of Representatives. After the initial seats are allocated, the remainder seats are allocated among the parties that received at least one seat, using the D'Hondt method of largest averages. This system slightly favours the larger parties. Since parties that received fewer votes than required to obtain one whole seat are not eligible for remainder seats, there is a de facto election threshold of 0.67%.[5] This threshold is one of the lowest for national parliaments in the world, and there are usually multiple parties winning seats with 2% or less of the vote. Any party that did not have seats in the House at the time of the election will have its deposit refunded if it receives more than 75% of the threshold (1/200th of the vote).
Once the number of seats allocated to each party is known, in general they are allocated to candidates in the order that they appear on the party's list. (Hence, before the elections, the candidates near the top may be described as in an electable position, depending on the number of seats that the party is likely to obtain.) At this stage, however, the preference votes are also taken into account. Any candidate receiving more than one quarter of the threshold on personal preference votes (the 'preference threshold' or voorkeursdrempel, 0.1675% of the total number of valid votes), is considered elected in their own right, leapfrogging candidates higher on the list. In the November 2006 elections, only one candidate received a seat exclusively through preference votes, while 26 other candidates reaching the preference threshold were already elected based on their position on the list. If a candidate cannot take up the position in parliament (e.g., if they become a minister, decide not to enter parliament, or later resign) then the next candidate on the list takes their place.
Formation of governing coalition
After all seats are allocated, a series of negotiations take place in order to form a government that, usually, commands a majority in the chamber. Since 2012, the House of Representatives appoints a "scout" to ask the major party leaders about prospective coalitions. On the basis of the scout's interviews, the House of Representatives then appoints an informateur, who checks out possible coalitions, and formateur, who leads negotiations (in previous years the informateur and formateur were appointed by the monarch). It typically takes a few months before the formateur is ready to accept a royal invitation to form a government and become prime minister. All cabinet members must resign from parliament, as the constitution does not allow a cabinet member to hold a seat in the House of Representatives.
Due to the nationwide party-list system and the low election threshold, a typical House of Representatives has ten or more factions represented. Such fragmentation makes it nearly impossible for one party to win the 76 seats needed for a majority in the House of Representatives. Indeed, since the current party-list proportional representation system was introduced in 1918, no party has even approached the number of seats that are even theoretically needed to govern alone, let alone win enough for an outright majority. The highest proportion of seats won by a single party since then has been 54 out of 150, obtained by the CDA in 1986 and 1989. Between 1891 and 1897, the Liberal Union was the last party to have an absolute majority of seats in the House of Representatives. All Dutch cabinets since then have been coalitions of two or more parties.
House of Representatives offices
The buildings that house the individual offices of the Members of the House of Representatives and conference rooms for closed-door party meetings are all located on the Binnenhof. The main buildings of the old Ministry of Justice and Ministry of Colonial Affairs are used as accommodations.
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The old Ministry of Justice building
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The old Ministry of Colonial Affairs building
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Grand Hotel Central building
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Binnenhof Building C
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Binnenhof Building 1A
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Composition
Historical compositions
![](http://up.wiki.x.io/wikipedia/en/thumb/b/b2/Dutchparlseats2.png/220px-Dutchparlseats2.png)
Until 1956, there were 100 seats. This was expanded to 150 seats, which is the current number.
To give an overview of the history of the House of Representatives, the figure on the right shows the seat distribution in the House from the first general elections after World War II (1946) to the current situation. The left-wing parties are towards the bottom, the Christian parties in the centre, with the right-wing parties towards the top. Occasionally, single-issue (or narrow-focus) parties have arisen, and these are shown at the extreme top. Vertical lines indicate general elections. Although these are generally held every four years, the resulting coalition governments do not always finish their term without a government crisis, which is often followed by fresh elections. Hence the frequent periods shorter than four years.
Current situation
The general election of 2021 was held on Wednesday, 17 March 2021.
Part of the Politics series |
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Party | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | |
People's Party for Freedom and Democracy | 2,279,130 | 21.87 | 34 | +1 | |
Democrats 66 | 1,565,861 | 15.02 | 24 | +5 | |
Party for Freedom | 1,124,482 | 10.79 | 17 | −3 | |
Christian Democratic Appeal | 990,601 | 9.50 | 15 | −4 | |
Socialist Party | 623,371 | 5.98 | 9 | −5 | |
Labour Party | 597,192 | 5.73 | 9 | 0 | |
GroenLinks | 537,308 | 5.16 | 8 | −6 | |
Forum for Democracy | 523,083 | 5.02 | 8 | +6 | |
Party for the Animals | 399,750 | 3.84 | 6 | +1 | |
Christian Union | 351,275 | 3.37 | 5 | 0 | |
Volt Netherlands | 252,480 | 2.42 | 3 | New | |
JA21 | 246,620 | 2.37 | 3 | New | |
Reformed Political Party | 215,249 | 2.07 | 3 | 0 | |
Denk | 211,237 | 2.03 | 3 | 0 | |
50PLUS | 106,702 | 1.02 | 1 | −3 | |
Farmer–Citizen Movement | 104,319 | 1.00 | 1 | New | |
BIJ1 | 87,238 | 0.84 | 1 | +1 | |
Code Orange | 40,731 | 0.39 | 0 | New | |
NIDA | 33,834 | 0.32 | 0 | New | |
Splinter | 30,328 | 0.29 | 0 | New | |
Pirate Party | 22,816 | 0.22 | 0 | 0 | |
JONG | 15,297 | 0.15 | 0 | New | |
Trots op Nederland | 13,198 | 0.13 | 0 | 0 | |
Henk Krol List | 9,264 | 0.09 | 0 | New | |
NLBeter | 8,657 | 0.08 | 0 | New | |
List 30 | 8,277 | 0.08 | 0 | New | |
Libertarian Party | 5,546 | 0.05 | 0 | 0 | |
OpRecht | 5,449 | 0.05 | 0 | New | |
Jezus Leeft | 5,015 | 0.05 | 0 | 0 | |
The Party Party | 3,744 | 0.04 | 0 | New | |
Ubuntu Connected Front | 1,880 | 0.02 | 0 | New | |
Free and Social Netherlands | 942 | 0.01 | 0 | New | |
Party of Unity | 804 | 0.01 | 0 | New | |
We Are the Netherlands | 553 | 0.01 | 0 | New | |
Modern Netherlands | 245 | 0.00 | 0 | New | |
Party for the Republic | 255 | 0.00 | 0 | New | |
The Greens | 119 | 0.00 | 0 | 0 | |
Total | 10,422,852 | 100.00 | 150 | 0 | |
Valid votes | 10,422,852 | 99.62 | |||
Invalid/blank votes | 39,825 | 0.38 | |||
Total votes | 10,462,677 | 100.00 | |||
Registered voters/turnout | 13,293,186 | 78.71 | |||
Source: Kiesraad |
Parliamentary leaders
Parliamentary leaders | Party | Service as parliamentary leader |
Service as a Member of the House of Representatives | ||
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style="background:Template:People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (2020)/meta/color;"| | ![]() |
Mark Rutte (born 1967) |
VVD | 31 March 2021 (3 years, 142 days) |
31 March 2021 (3 years, 142 days) |
style="background:Template:Democrats 66/meta/color;"| | ![]() |
Rob Jetten (born 1987) |
D66 | 25 May 2021 (3 years, 87 days) 8 October 2018 – 31 March 2021 (2 years, 174 days) |
23 March 2017 (7 years, 150 days) |
style="background:Template:Party for Freedom/meta/color;"| | ![]() |
Geert Wilders (born 1963) |
PVV | 30 November 2006 (17 years, 264 days) |
26 July 2002 (22 years, 55 days) 25 August 1998 – 23 May 2002 (3 years, 271 days) |
style="background:Template:Christian Democratic Appeal (2021)/meta/color;"| | ![]() |
Wopke Hoekstra (born 1975) |
CDA | 31 March 2021 (3 years, 142 days) |
31 March 2021 (3 years, 142 days) |
style="background:Template:Socialist Party (Netherlands)/meta/color;"| | ![]() |
Lilian Marijnissen (born 1985) |
SP | 13 December 2017 (6 years, 251 days) |
23 March 2017 (7 years, 150 days) |
style="background:Template:Labour Party (Netherlands)/meta/color;"| | ![]() |
Lilianne Ploumen (born 1962) |
PvdA | 14 January 2021 (3 years, 219 days) |
23 March 2017 (7 years, 150 days) |
style="background:Template:GreenLeft/meta/color;"| | ![]() |
Jesse Klaver (born 1986) |
GL | 12 May 2015 (9 years, 100 days) |
17 June 2010 (14 years, 64 days) |
style="background:Template:Forum for Democracy (Netherlands)/meta/color;"| | ![]() |
Dr. Thierry Baudet (born 1983) |
FvD | 23 March 2017 (7 years, 150 days) |
23 March 2017 (7 years, 150 days) |
style="background:Template:Party for the Animals/meta/color;"| | ![]() |
Esther Ouwehand (born 1976) |
PvdD | 9 October 2019 (4 years, 316 days) 9 October 2018 – 31 January 2019 (114 days) 24 January 2012 – 14 May 2012 (111 days) |
18 October 2016 (7 years, 307 days) 30 November 2006 – 17 November 2015 (8 years, 352 days) |
style="background:Template:ChristianUnion/meta/color;"| | ![]() |
Gert-Jan Segers (born 1969) |
CU | 10 November 2015 (8 years, 284 days) |
20 September 2012 (11 years, 335 days) |
style="background:Template:Volt Netherlands/meta/color;"| | Laurens Dassen | Laurens Dassen (born 1985) |
Volt | 31 March 2021 (3 years, 142 days) |
31 March 2021 (3 years, 142 days) |
style="background:Template:JA21/meta/color;"| | ![]() |
Joost Eerdmans (born 1976) |
JA21 | 31 March 2021 (3 years, 142 days) 25 September 2006 – 30 November 2006 (66 days) |
31 March 2021 (3 years, 142 days) 23 May 2002 – 30 November 2006 (4 years, 191 days) |
style="background:Template:Reformed Political Party/meta/color;"| | ![]() |
Kees van der Staaij (born 1968) |
SGP | 9 June 2010 (14 years, 72 days) |
19 May 1998 (26 years, 93 days) |
style="background:Template:Denk (Dutch political party)/meta/color;"| | ![]() |
Farid Azarkan (born 1971) |
DENK | 22 March 2020 (4 years, 151 days) 23 April 2018 – 2 September 2018 (132 days) |
23 March 2017 (7 years, 150 days) |
style="background:Template:Farmer–Citizen Movement/meta/color;"| | ![]() |
Caroline van der Plas (born 1967) |
BBB | 31 March 2021 (3 years, 142 days) |
31 March 2021 (3 years, 142 days) |
style="background:Template:BIJ1/meta/color;"| | ![]() |
Sylvana Simons (born 1971) |
BIJ1 | 31 March 2021 (3 years, 142 days) |
31 March 2021 (3 years, 142 days) |
Independent Parliamentary leaders | Group/Member (Seats) |
Service as parliamentary leader |
Service as a Member of the House of Representatives | ||
style="background:Template:Independent/meta/color;"| | ![]() |
Wybren van Haga (born 1967) |
Van Haga Group (3) (split from FvD) |
13 May 2021 (3 years, 99 days) 24 September 2019 – 1 December 2020 (1 year, 68 days) |
31 October 2017 (6 years, 294 days) |
style="background:Template:Independent/meta/color;"| | ![]() |
Liane den Haan (born 1967) |
Member Den Haan (1) (split from 50+) |
31 March 2021 (3 years, 142 days) |
6 May 2021 (3 years, 106 days) |
Members of the Presidium
Portrait | Name | Position | Party | Service in the Presidium | Service as a member of the House of Representatives | |
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style="background:Template:Democrats 66/meta/color;" | | ![]() |
Vera Bergkamp (born 1971) |
Speaker | D66 | 31 October 2017 (6 years, 294 days) |
20 September 2012 (11 years, 335 days) |
style="background:Template:People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (2020)/meta/color;" | | ![]() |
Ockje Tellegen (born 1974) |
First Deputy Speaker | VVD | 31 October 2017 (6 years, 294 days) |
20 September 2012 (11 years, 335 days) |
style="background:Template:Party for Freedom/meta/color;" | | Martin Bosma | Martin Bosma (born 1964) |
Second Deputy Speaker | PVV | 30 June 2010 (14 years, 143 days) |
30 November 2006 (17 years, 264 days) |
style="background:Template:Christian Democratic Appeal (2021)/meta/color;" | | ![]() |
Anne Kuik (born 1987) |
Third Deputy Speaker | CDA | 23 March 2017 (7 years, 150 days) | |
style="background:Template:Socialist Party (Netherlands)/meta/color;" | | ![]() |
Michiel van Nispen (born 1982) |
Fourth Deputy Speaker | SP | 2 April 2014 (10 years, 140 days) | |
style="background:Template:Labour Party (Netherlands)/meta/color;" | | ![]() |
Henk Nijboer (born 1983) |
Fifth Deputy Speaker | PvdA | 20 September 2012 (11 years, 335 days) | |
style="background:Template:GroenLinks/meta/color;" | | Tom van der Lee | Tom van der Lee (born 1964) |
Sixth Deputy Speaker | GL | 23 March 2017 (7 years, 150 days) | |
style="background:Template:Independent/meta/color;"| | ![]() |
Wybren van Haga (born 1967) |
Seventh Deputy Speaker | Indep. | 31 October 2017 (6 years, 294 days) | |
style="background:Template:Party for the Animals/meta/color;" | | ![]() |
Frank Wassenberg (born 1966) |
Eighth Deputy Speaker | PvdD | 17 November 2015 (8 years, 277 days) | |
style="background:Template:Democrats 66/meta/color;" | | ![]() |
Paul van Meenen (born 1956) |
Ninth Deputy Speaker | D66 | 20 September 2012 (11 years, 335 days) |
Parliamentary Committees
In the media
Plenary sessions of the house are broadcast via a live audio-only transmission called the Tweede Kamerlijn, available on the internet and through most Dutch cable operators. The service also broadcasts important committee meetings if there is no plenary at the time.
Notes
- ^ Liane Den Haan (formerly 50+); Wyberen van Haga, Hans Smolders, Olaf Ephraim (formerly FvD)
References
- ^ "Netherlands: Coalition deal reached after 209 days". DW. Deutsche Welle. 9 October 2017. Retrieved 10 October 2017.
- ^ Gijs Herderscheê (20 June 2017). "Fenomeen politieke lijstverbinding sneuvelt in Eerste Kamer". Volkskrant.
- ^ Kiesgerechtigdheid, Government of the Netherlands, retrieved 2 December 2018
- ^ "Kieswet, Hoofdstuk P". wetten.nl (in Dutch). 22 February 2019. Retrieved 7 July 2019.
- ^ "Kiesdrempel, kiesdeler en voorkeurdrempel". Kiesraad.nl (in Dutch). 22 April 2016. Retrieved 7 July 2019.
- ^ "Nieuwkomers Denk en Forum krijgen geen andere plek in zaal Tweede Kamer". NRC Handelsblad (in Dutch). 6 April 2017. Retrieved 4 November 2017.
- ^ "Verhuizing Kamer lastige puzzel door eisen kleine partijen". Algemeen Dagblad (in Dutch). 7 April 2017. Retrieved 4 November 2017.
- ^ "Reken niet zomaar op de SGP". NRC Handelsblad (in Dutch). 2 June 2017. Retrieved 4 November 2017.
- ^ "Partijen onderhandelen over werkplek - wie eindigt op zolder?". NRC Handelsblad (in Dutch). 21 March 2017. Retrieved 4 November 2017.
External links
![](http://up.wiki.x.io/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
- Official website
- (in Dutch) Official site
- Virtual tour of the houses of parliament
- (in Dutch) Seat allocation in the House of Representatives. Click the diagram on the left to see names and photos of all representatives per section.
- (in Dutch) Official site for archives since 1995