MPs from Brabant are unhappy about the plan of Minister of the Interior Judith Uitermark to overthrow the electoral system. If it is up to her, the vast majority of MPs will now be chosen regionally to strengthen the bond with voters, RTL Nieuws reports. “The world is on fire. There are other things to worry about now,” responds Tilburg member Esmah Lahlah from opposition party GroenLinks-Pvda.
If it is up to the minister, voters from now on will opt for regional candidates per province. For example, 125 seats of the 150 are compiled in the room. The remaining 25 seats are distributed based on the national results.
The world on fire
The desire to change the electoral system has been in the coalition for some time. The plan is also included in the main lines of the Coalition parties PVV, NSC, BBB and VVD. Especially party leader Pieter Omtzigt from NSC likes to see a reform. He believes that there is too little regional representation in the Chamber.
“This is priority for a minister with many other concerns,” SP Member of Parliament Michiel van Nispen from Breda wonders aloud. “Today we still had the debate about the upcoming ‘canyon year’ many social provisions are in danger of being cut away, there are doubts about existence and the quality of care and then the minister is busy with a new electoral system. I think that is very harsh.”
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VVD MP Daan de Kort from Veldhoven points out that it is an agreement from the outline agreement that Minister Uitermark is now working out. In terms of content, he does not want to respond to his coalition fellow because he has not yet viewed the plans extensively.
Not the moment
Van Nispen himself is not against the idea of a better regional spread of MPs, but according to him, that responsibility should not come from a change in the electoral system. “There are almost no people from the Randstad in our party, we pay attention to that ourselves. If the voters find that spread important, they can actively vote for it. Then you don’t have to throw the electoral system upside down.”
Member of Parliament Esmah Lahlah thinks about the same about that. “My first reaction was, the world is on fire, promise after promise is broken, but let’s change the electoral system.”
Nicer
Yet Lahlah also finds representation in politics important. “So it’s good to think about how that comes into its own. But not now.” Whether Brabant should be better represented in the Lower House? “More people from Brabant in the Lower House is always good, the world is only getting more fun,” she laughs.
VVD MP Daan de Kort agrees. “It benefits politics when every region is represented. Brabant certainly, because important things happen here, I know better than anyone.” He laughs, “Brabanders in the room, I’m always for that!”