Everyone in the room is now really damaged

Simone Roos summarizes it in the farewell e-mail to her officials: “The investigation has been made political, officials have been damaged, there appeared to be hardly any attention for the reporters and the integrity of the MT has been damaged.” To add: “This while we, as the official leadership, have repeatedly drawn attention to social safety from the political leadership in recent years.”

Roos, as clerk of the House of Representatives the highest official of an organization of more than 600 civil servants, thus refers directly to a painful history for parliamentarians. A socially unsafe working climate prevails among civil servants and various political groups in the House of Representatives. More specifically, this applied to some of the civil servants who dealt with Khadija Arib during her period as President of the Chamber (2016-2021).

At the time, Roos and other (top) officials made several unsuccessful attempts to persuade the presidium – the daily management of the House of Representatives, staffed by nine parliamentarians – to intervene after persistent complaints about Arib’s behaviour. But the politicians, who have a supervisory function as presidency, eventually left the officials to their own devices.

For example, the presidency members Ockje Tellegen (VVD) and Martin Bosma (PVV) had conversations with Arib, who was popular with the outside world in 2019, but little changed. This to the frustration of the officials involved. They breathed a sigh of relief when Arib lost the presidential election in 2021 to another presidium member: Vera Bergkamp (D66), who was also aware of the complaints against Arib at the time.

The situation was untenable for the administrative leadership of the Chamber

That situation suddenly changed when Arib, as a PvdA MP, became chairman of a committee in July 2022 that prepares the parliamentary inquiry into corona policy. A tumult arose among officials who had bad experiences with her as President of the Chamber: they did not want to work with her again. That same summer, the presidency received an anonymous letter. In it, an official describes several complaints about Arib and the author mentions her recent appointment as a reason to report. “I and many officials with me had hoped that after her reign of terror (…) Ms. Arib would have ended up on the sidelines of politics where she can no longer do any harm to officials.”

The administrative leadership of the House endorses the incidents about social insecurity described in the letter and states that they also recognize them indoors. The presidency, which was partly renewed after the elections, asks for legal advice from State Attorney Pels Rijcken. This states that the House of Representatives, as an employer, “has an absolute obligation to act on the basis of the letter”.

Research

This time, the presidency did take action: it decided unanimously on September 28 that an external investigation should be carried out into Arib during her time as Speaker of the House.

The former chairman says he was robbed if NRC calls her that evening with the news. Arib later speaks of “a political settlement by Mrs Bergkamp and people around her”. She also says in advance that she will not cooperate. According to her, it is a “sham investigation”.

The early announcement of the investigation has led to political unrest. The case continues to escalate as other MPs have more and more questions about the reason for and the design of the investigation. They demand clarity from the already shaky Chamber President Vera Bergkamp.

The case escalates on November 1, when a majority of the Process Committee wants Bergkamp to ask the presidency to shut down the investigation. Emotions are running high. PVV MP Gidi Markuszower says: “The presidency and you, Madam President, acted as a kind of hitman.” Bergkamp is unable to maintain order. Even after she closes the meeting, MPs are still demanding a vote.

Roos calls the meeting in a letter to all ‘Room residents’ the ‘most shocking meeting in my career, in all respects’.

Also read: The investigation into Arib is more about political implications than her behavior

It is not the first time in the process that Bergkamp has lost control. When a top official, who previously confirmed the complaints about Arib, is appointed under her political responsibility as ‘delegated principal’ for research firm Hoffmann, Bergkamp does not see the impurity. A new political storm is brewing.

The situation is now untenable for the official leadership. “It has particularly touched me that in this situation there is little or no attention or compassion for the civil servants who have recently and also in the past drawn attention to socially unsafe behaviour,” Roos writes. She is leaving, as is the entire management team. “I can no longer take responsibility for this.” The official organization has been beheaded, the chaos is complete.

At an inserted press moment on Friday evening, Bergkamp calls the departure “very bad”. But the investigation continues as far as she is concerned and she herself will remain on, she says. Michel Meerts has followed it all. The chairman of the works council now has doubts about the usefulness of the investigation: “If there is an outcome, who will still believe it?” He sighs. “The biggest problem is that there is now no procedure that guarantees the safety of officials.”