THE HAGUE–Ronald van Raak of the Socialist Party (SP) was re-appointed as one of the eight deputy chairpersons of the Second Chamber of the Dutch Parliament on Thursday.

 

Together with Second Chamber President Khadija Arib, the eight form the Presidium, the daily management of Parliament.

 

Van Raak was appointed the fifth vice-chairperson. The others were, starting from the first, Mark Harbers of the liberal democratic VVD party, Martin Bosma of the Party for Freedom PVV, Raymond Knops of the Christian Democratic Party CDA, Stientje van Veldhoven of the Democratic Party D66, Linda Voortman of the green left party GroenLinks, Joël Voordewind of the ChristianUnion and Attje Kuiken of the Labour Party PvdA. Voordewind represents the smaller parties in Parliament.

 

Together with President Arib, the vice-chairpersons form the Presidium which is in charge of the daily management of the Second Chamber. The Presidium meets on a regular basis, about two times a month, about working methods and procedures, as well as matters that concern the staff of Parliament. The agenda and decisions of the Presidium are made public.

 

Van Raak, a prominent and very vocal member of the Permanent Committee for Kingdom Relations and of Home Affairs, has been a member of the Presidium and a deputy chairperson since 2010.

 

The role of a deputy chairperson and a member of the Presidium is very different from that of a Member of Parliament (MP), said Van Raak on Thursday. “As a Member of the Second Chamber, you always try to get things your way, to be able to speak as often as possible and to get things done,” he told The Daily Herald.

 

“But when you are chairing, you have to strictly adhere to the rules. You see the political game from the other side, and that is very interesting. You learn a lot. Every Member of Parliament should have that opportunity, really,” he said.

 

The Daily Herald