Maik de Weerdt will be elected to the North Holland Provincial Council in 2023. His party, Volt, obtained 4.5 percent of the votes in March that year and entered the States with two seats.
More than two years later, in April 2025, De Weerdt was forced to temporarily withdraw from politics due to his health. After an absence of five months, he will return to work at the Provincial House in Haarlem in September 2025.
That does not end well: cooperation with his party members no longer gets off the ground. In December 2025, he informed the King’s Commissioner, Arthur van Dijk, in a short letter that he would continue alone. The reason for the break is not stated.
He has not been seen at the Provincial House since. He unsubscribes from the State Meetings and he also has to give up the committees. His fellow Members of Parliament have no idea where De Weerdt has gone. What’s going on?
Temporary dismissal
So it is not the first time that De Weerdt has been absent for a longer period of time: he falls ill in April 2025. What is going on is unknown. “On the advice of his doctor, Maik has concluded that his current state of health does not provide sufficient scope to properly fulfill his position as a Member of Parliament,” reads the Volt website. “That is why he has decided to focus fully on his recovery in the coming months.”
However, unlike an employer, Members of Parliament cannot report sick. In the event of long-term absence, for example due to illness or pregnancy, a request for temporary dismissal can be submitted. The party will then appoint a substitute for a period of time. The absent representative will retain the compensation for the Staten work during that period.
De Weerdt requests such a temporary dismissal. But, as his party writes: “At the same time, he is convinced that this is the right choice, so that he can again make the Volt sound heard in the Provincial Council with full energy.”
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