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
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 has the same rights and obligations. The Speaker leads the meetings of the House. They open and close the meetings and at meetings determines who speaks. The Members of the House and the Cabinet ministers and State secretaries are not supposed to address each other directly, but always address the Speaker instead -as a method to encourage civility. While the Speaker also takes part in the voting (as a regular member of the house), they typically do not participate in the debate itself.

The Speaker's chair is higher than the other seats.

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Besides leading the meetings, the Speaker represents the House as a whole, such as in ceremonies and with visits by foreign heads of state. The Speaker is also the chair of the Presidium, which is responsible for 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 fulfill 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]

Members of the Presidium

Portrait		Name	Position	Party	Service in the Presidium	Service as a member of the House of Representatives
		Khadija Arib (born 1960)	Speaker	PvdA	13 January 2016 (2 years, 273 days)	1 March 2007 (11 years, 226 days) 19 May 1998 – 30 November 2006 (8 years, 195 days)
		Ockje Tellegen (born 1974)	First Deputy Speaker	VVD	31 October 2017 (347 days)	20 September 2012 (6 years, 23 days)
		Martin Bosma (born 1964)	Second Deputy Speaker	PVV	30 June 2010 (8 years, 197 days)	30 November 2006 (11 years, 317 days)
		Dr. Madeleine van Toorenburg (born 1968)	Third Deputy Speaker	CDA	31 October 2017 (347 days)	1 March 2007 (11 years, 226 days)
		Vera Bergkamp (born 1971)	Fourth Deputy Speaker	D66	31 October 2017 (347 days)	20 September 2012 (6 years, 23 days)
		Dr. Kathalijne Buitenweg (born 1970)	Fifth Deputy Speaker	GL	8 June 2018 (127 days)	23 March 2017 (1 year, 204 days)
		Dr. Ronald van Raak (born 1969)	Sixth Deputy Speaker	SP	23 June 2010 (8 years, 204 days)	30 November 2006 (11 years, 317 days)
		Joël Voordewind (born 1965)	Seventh Deputy Speaker	CU	20 September 2012 (6 years, 23 days)	30 November 2006 (11 years, 317 days)
		Attje Kuiken (born 1977)	Eighth Deputy Speaker	PvdA	1 June 2018 (134 days)	11 May 2010 (7 years, 155 days) 30 November 2006 – 19 January 2010 (3 years, 50 days)

See also

• List of Speakers of the House of Representatives (Netherlands)
• President of the Senate (Netherlands)

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Speakers of the House of Representatives (Netherlands).

• President of the House at the website of the House of Representatives