The integrity council of the House of Representatives believes that MPs Thierry Baudet, Gideon van Meijeren and Freek Jansen of Forum for Democracy should be suspended for a week. This is evident from one report that was sent to Parliament on Wednesday. The three have violated the code of conduct for MPs by not giving up board positions, the council writes.
This concerns ‘Eerlijk Eten BV’, an online delivery service for meal packages that was registered with the Chamber of Commerce at the end of December. According to the website, that delivery service offered food “without the intervention of the supermarket”, in order to support farmers. Almost the entire FVD party leadership was director and shareholder.
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Because Van Meijeren also did not register his work as a municipal councilor in The Hague and a member of Parliament in South Holland, commands the Integrity Board will issue an additional reprimand in his case. It plays a role that the Forum MPs “did not cooperate in any way with the investigation”, according to the council.
‘Unprecedented attack’
It is now up to the House of Representatives to vote on the advice. That will probably happen on December 12, the first time that the new group of MPs will vote on proposals after the upcoming elections. If the three FVD members are indeed suspended, they will no longer be allowed to participate in debates for a week, but they will still be allowed to vote.
Former Forum MP Ralf Dekker would also be eligible for a punishment, but because he was only in Parliament temporarily, that advice lapses. Like the polls the current situation, Baudet, Van Meijeren and Jansen are on course to get a seat again. They are in the top three places on the electoral list.
“Once again an unprecedented attack on our democracy,” Forum for Democracy responded in an email to its members. “After a successful series of debates, the cartel is pulling out all the stops to stop Forum for Democracy.” Dekker speaks on X of “complaining about secondary positions and ‘integrity’”.