Summary of the article
Now is the time to take a completely different path with the formation. This approach makes it possible to quickly form a government based on popular support for each issue. Can counteract polarization and promote cooperation.
Read full article: This is how a government can be formed
Reading time: 5 minutes
Two months ago, I wrote an article about how a government can be formed in the Netherlands. It is more topical and urgent now than then. Hopefully it will be taken into account in The Hague when choosing which path to take next.
Given the stranding of the formation, you will find the proposal again below:
Organizing support
Our constitution does not provide much room to implement truly drastic changes. But it is still urgent to move to a modern system within the preconditions that exist, where support for tackling social problems is more important than the at least 76 seats that the government parties have to get their mutual compromises through parliament .
This could be that approach based on the election results of November 22.
A. Formation of government
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- If we assume 19 ministries, the new approach to government formation assumes that every party that obtains 6 seats or more will receive 1 or more ministries. The ministry will have a minister and a state secretary from one party. With the current result this could be: PVV (6), PvdA-GroenLinks (4), VVD (4), NSC (3), D66 (1) and BBB (1). But when allocating the ministries, the numbers per party could be adjusted.
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- A prime minister is being sought who is supported by a majority of the participating parties and who fits in with the design of this government. So in any case not a prominent politician from one of the participating parties.
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- The ministries are then allocated based on the parties’ choices. This can be done by mutual agreement, but if no agreement is reached, there is an allocation method (order of election) based on the number of seats each party has.
B. Coalition agreement
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- The parties only make basic agreements about how they interact with each other within the government. Not about substantive topics.
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- It is accepted (and assumed) that neither the ministers nor the participating parties have to agree with each other during the four years of the government’s term. Majorities are sufficient. This also means that the parties in the House of Representatives do not have to agree to the government’s proposals. If people do not vote, this will have no consequences for the continued existence of the cabinet.
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- In the coalition agreement, the parties agree on a procedure for involving voters in the democratic process, in which organizing support is the most important topic. That procedure is explained below.
C. (Legal) proposals
The crucial component of this innovation will lie in the somewhat different role of the Chambers in relation to the voters in the next four years. This is arranged in the following way.
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- A minister will try to gain a majority within the government in order to bring proposals to the House of Representatives. If there is a majority in favor within the government, there is also a good chance that there will be a majority in the House of Representatives.
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- However, if the government does not have a majority in favor of the proposal, the minister can try to get his/her proposal through the House of Representatives.
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- If the House of Representatives rejects the proposal (regardless of whether it was a proposal from the majority of the government or from an individual minister), the minister has the option to submit the (legislative) proposal to the voter.
D. Voter’s statement
If the minister decides to submit the proposal to the voter, it will be one-for-one the proposal that the House of Representatives rejected. Submission to the voter can be done quickly and easily in the following way:
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- It’s not about whether more people are for or against. It only matters whether there is a majority among the population “in favor” of the (legislative) proposal. The “majority” is calculated as follows: 10.4 million people turned out for the House of Representatives election, so that majority is 5.2 million plus 1.
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- Shortly after rejection by the House of Representatives, the process will take place to determine whether there is a majority in the population. For a period of 3 weeks, those who are in favor of the proposal can cast their vote digitally (DIGI-ID) and via voting forms in town halls/district offices. While this is happening, the standings are announced daily. If the limit of half plus one is reached (5.2 million votes), then there is a majority.
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- In the coalition agreement, the parties agreed that if this majority is achieved in the House of Representatives, all parties in the government will still vote in favor of the proposal. So the population has overruled the first vote of the House of Representatives.
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- There is also an emergency brake for citizens. If the House has adopted a (legislative) proposal by a majority, it can be stopped via a corrective referendum. But these requirements are strict: within a month, 1 million people must indicate that they want a corrective referendum. And during the vote, two-thirds of the Dutch people who voted in the House of Representatives must speak out against it. Those in favor of the proposal do not then have to vote. (Technically, it is carried out in the same way as the vote to support a proposal from the minister.)
The many benefits of this approach
This is an approach with many advantages:
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- Government formation can be done quickly. There is little chance of a midterm fall and new elections.
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- Parties can operate much more transparently with regard to their proposals and voting choices, because they are not bound by the coalition agreement. They can also make it clear that they have started to support a particular proposal through negotiations with other parties, in exchange for the support that the other parties then give to their own minister’s proposal.
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- Support among the population plays an important role in discussions and votes within the government and the House of Representatives. A minister is in a strong position if it is clear that there is strong support among the population. The minister is weaker if there is no support among the population and will then have to try to gain support in the House of Representatives through adjustments or otherwise.
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- Last but not least: because all parties with more than 6 seats are represented in the government, the population will feel more represented by that government and much less excluded. The parties will polarize much less because they will not, as now, either be in government for 4 years or in opposition for 4 years. This can contribute to a reduction in polarization in society.
Constitution
This is an approach that can be introduced without amending the constitution. Changes that require an amendment to the constitution are very time-consuming and must at some point receive 2/3 support in Parliament. Something that is increasingly impossible to achieve given the current fragmentation.
Together
Naturally, this plan needs to be further developed and finely honed. But that could happen in the coming weeks during the cabinet formation by the participating parties. And we will get the much-needed renewal in our political culture, which will be much more focused on tackling the problems together instead of fighting each other and ensuring that a new government falls as quickly as possible.
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2024-02-07 08:26:15
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