Jetta Klijnsma (65) wants to continue for a second term as King’s Commissioner in Drenthe. The official procedure is started for this.
Klijnsma’s first term ends on December 1 next year. She will then be active in the province as the King’s Commissioner for six years. Klijnsma has now informed the Minister of the Interior that she would like to be considered for reappointment.
The entire reappointment procedure takes about eight months. It is up to the Provincial Council to inform the minister whether they want to continue with Klijnsma in Drenthe. This means that the reappointment process must now be initiated by the confidential committee, which includes representatives of all parties in the Provincial Council.
If Klijnsma is reappointed on December 1, 2023, she will not be able to complete the second term. A King’s Commissioner is appointed for six years. As soon as a supervisory director turns 70, he must stop. Klijnsma will start her second term at the age of 66. She will have to retire within four years, because she will turn 70 in March 2027.
Klijnsma was installed as a supervisory director of Drenthe on 1 December 2017. She succeeded Jozias van Aartsen, who temporarily took on the role after Jacques Tichelaar had to resign in March of that year due to an integrity issue.
Since 1951, someone from the PvdA has always filled the role of Commissioner of the King(s) of Drenthe. There are two exceptions. From 1964 to 1974 it was Karel Hendrik Gaarlandt who was not party to the party, but who did feel an affinity with the social-democratic ideology. And Jozias van Aartsen, who was temporarily appointed in 2017, is from the VVD.
Klijnsma, born in Hoogeveen, previously served as a member of the Dutch Parliament for the PvdA and was State Secretary for Social Affairs and Employment in two different cabinets.