The presidium, the daily board of the House of Representatives, will have to do without a PvdA member for the foreseeable future. The MP who sat on behalf of that party resigned immediately on Tuesday. Henk Nijboer does not think that he can “function effectively in the presidency”, because in recent days he has received many questions about his “party membership and how this relates to my support for setting up an independent investigation into reports”.
In a statement on Twitter he writes: “I knew beforehand that I would not be thanked for the decision of the presidency. And that indeed turned out to be the case. I have never received so much criticism as in the past few days. From people inside and outside my party.”
The reports to which Nijboer refers are about his party colleague and until recently fellow party member Khadija Arib. In recent years, civil servants have repeatedly raised the alarm with, among others, the presidency and confidential advisers about Arib’s behavior and manners during the period in which she was Speaker of the House (2016-2021).
After two anonymous letters with complaints and examples had been received by the presidency earlier this year, the advice was sought from State Attorney Pels Rijcken. The lawyers write that the House of Representatives has “an absolute obligation to act” and that the anonymous complaints are not isolated. The “concrete incidents are consistent with previous (concrete and serious) signs of an unsafe work environment.” Moreover, the examples are “confirmed by the leadership of the official organization of the House of Representatives.” Last Wednesday wrote NRC that the presidency had unanimously decided to initiate an external independent investigation. Earlier that day, Arib heard that news from the newspaper.
On Saturday she published a statement on Twitter, in which she writes to leave the House of Representatives after 24 years. Arib was already aware at the time that NRC was working on an investigation into the way in which she dealt with civil servants as Speaker of the Chamber.
Also read the reconstruction that NRC made: Under acclaimed Chamber President Khadija Arib, one official after another snapped
Chairman corona committee
One of the anonymous letters, which partly prompted the unanimous decision by the presidency to open an investigation, mentions Arib’s appointment as chairman of the temporary corona committee. This committee does the preparatory work for a parliamentary inquiry that will follow later, and is supported by official staff from the House of Representatives. The letter’s writer is concerned that officials are once again forced to work with Arib.
Monday evening, after the publication of NRC, wrote HP/The Time about an email allegedly sent by the clerk of that committee to committee members on Friday. The email, which he claims to have written on behalf of the staff, states that the officials are collaborating “in a professional manner” with the committee, “including the chairman”, and that they see “no obstacles” to continuing to do so. to make.
There are many questions in the House of Representatives about how the advice of the state attorney and the decision of the presidium could have been leaked. And also about the way in which Chamber President Vera Bergkamp, who acts as chairman of the presidency, has operated.
In the regulation of activities, in which MPs can request debates, MP Wybren van Haga of the Van Haga Group tried to find support on Tuesday for a plenary debate. He only found it at Forum for Democracy. Other parties felt that the House of Representatives should not be talking about itself again. Last week there was also a debate about the manners in the House of Representatives.
Method
In the end, a majority supported a proposal by Renske Leijten of the SP. She suggested that the Commission for the Method, which deals with, among other things, the procedural side of the House of Representatives, could hold a meeting about the issue. That committee consists of twelve MPs, which, incidentally, partly overlap with the current presidency. Its meetings, unlike those of the presidency, are public. The next one is scheduled for in four weeks, on Tuesday 1 November.
One of the members of the Working Method Committee is Attje Kuiken, the leader of the PvdA. She said on Tuesday that her party will not look for a replacement for Henk Nijboer in the presidium, “as long as it is unclear how all this could have happened, we do not know who caused the leak and nothing has been put in order”.
On Tuesday afternoon, Khadija Arib had not yet sent her letter of resignation to Chamber President Bergkamp. This means that it is not yet possible to say goodbye to her and that the PvdA cannot yet say with certainty who will succeed Arib. Only after Arib formally resigns can the President of the House report to the Electoral Council. He then calls the next candidate on the PvdA list.