After his premature departure as a member of parliament for the CDA, Peter Oskam returns, again prematurely, to the House of Representatives. This time in a different role.
On the recommendation of the old presidium, the House of Representatives will vote on Tuesday afternoon on the appointment of Oskam as the new clerk, the civil servant who, among other things, assists and advises the President of the House.
If the House approves, Oskam will become Simone Roos’ permanent successor. She submitted her resignation in November last year out of dissatisfaction with the Arib affair. Roos found the working atmosphere poisoned and unsafe when the political discussion about the external investigation into inappropriate behavior by former Speaker of the House Khadija Arib focused on the top officials. Last year, Geert Jan Hamilton served as acting clerk of the House of Representatives.
With Peter Oskam, an experienced administrator and lawyer will take the helm of the official organization of the House of Representatives, which employs more than seven hundred people. He was, among other things, a police officer, public prosecutor, judge and, in the last seven years, mayor of Capelle aan den IJssel.
He is also no stranger to politics at the Binnenhof, because the now 63-year-old Oskam was a CDA MP. He was elected in 2012 as number 10 on the electoral list – with just over seven hundred preferential votes. In the current, newly installed Chamber, he will meet three colleagues from the then thirteen-member CDA faction: Pieter Omtzigt and Eddy van Hijum from NSC and Mona Keijzer from BBB. As a Member of Parliament, Oskam was, among other things, spokesperson for security and justice and a member of the parliamentary inquiry committee on housing associations.
When he announced his intention to leave Parliament at the end of 2015, he received a lot of criticism. He had only been a representative for three years. It happened at a time when, more than a year before the elections, more MPs left prematurely. Oskam had acknowledged in an interview that membership of Parliament was mainly “a stepping stone” to becoming mayor. Later he qualified that in one interview in Fidelity. “I thought it was important to gain political experience, but I didn’t need it as a springboard.”
Unique appointment
The news about his new career move two weeks ago was once again met with disapproving reactions. “We extended his term last year,” said CDA faction leader Jolanda den Engelsman from the Capelse municipal council. A.D. “I thought he would be here until he retired.” SP councilor Willem Vlot said in the same article that he was already preparing the annual meeting between the mayor and the city council. “But that is no longer necessary.”
Oskam’s probable appointment is unique in parliamentary history, says Menno de Bruyne, spokesperson for the SGP faction and walking encyclopedia of the Binnenhof. Since the introduction of the current parliamentary system in 1848, he says, it has “never happened” that a (former) MP becomes clerk of the House of Representatives. “The other way around.” Jacob Dirk Veegens was first a clerk from 1881 before becoming a Member of Parliament for the Liberal Union in 1888.
In addition to his professional career, Oskam has been a high-level referee for many years, including in professional football. In an interview with the A.D he said he saw a parallel between his work as mayor and his role as an arbitrator. “As a referee I wanted to allow a lot of play to continue. Still, you have to draw boundaries. I also do that in the municipal council. […] Every now and then you have to say: this far and no further. Then you ‘whistle’.”
In addition to the new clerk, the House will also elect a new Speaker of the House next Thursday who will have to work closely with Peter Oskam. Two candidates have registered for this so far: PVV member Martin Bosma and Tom van der Lee of GroenLinks-PvdA.
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