House of Representatives to increase number of debates
The Dutch House of Representatives will increase the number of physical debates in the coming weeks. The House will continue to scrutinise the work of Government with due regard for the health and safety of everyone working in the House. President of the House Khadija Arib writes this in a letter to Members of Parliament, on behalf of the Presidium. During the coming recess, the House will continue to hold debates on the coronavirus.
The coronacrisis limits the possibilities for physical debates. "In order to hold debates, we need to make an appeal to many staff members", the President writes in her letter. But there also needs to be space to discuss other topics than the coronacrisis. This goes for pressing legislation, as well as topics that M's wish to address urgently. In videoconferences, committees have decided on which pressing legislation they will addres in the coming weeks. That entails making room for more physical debate in the House.
On Mondays and Tuesday, there will be three committee meeting rooms that can be used for debates between committees and Government. Voting will take place at the earliest opportunity during plenary debates."We do need to be careful of this slight broadening of the rules," according to the President. "It is not unlimited. We do have to set an example as the national Parliament."
As regular debates on the coronavirus will need to be held, the House has decided to continue its debates on this topic during the coming May recess. During this recess, no other topics will be up for debate.