Senate of the Netherlands
| Senate Eerste Kamer |
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|---|---|
| States-General of the Netherlands | |
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| Type | |
| Type | Upper house |
| Leadership | |
| President | Fred de Graaf, (VVD) since June 28, 2011 |
| Parliamentary leader | Loek Hermans, (VVD) Marleen Barth, (PvdA) Elco Brinkman, (CDA) Machiel de Graaf, (PVV) Tiny Kox, (SP) Roger van Boxtel, (D66) Tof Thissen, (GL) Roel Kuiper, (CU) Gerrit Holdijk, (SGP) Jan Nagel, (50+) Niko Koffeman, (PvdD) Henk ten Hoeve, (OSF) |
| Structure | |
| Members | 75 |
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| Political groups | VVD - PvdA - CDA - PVV - SP - D66 - GL - CU - SGP - 50+ - PvdD - OSF |
| Length of term | 2011-2015 |
| Elections | |
| Voting system | Indirect election |
| Last election | Dutch Senate election of 2011 |
| Meeting place | |
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| Senate Chamber Binnenhof The Hague Netherlands |
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| Website | |
| The Senate of the Netherlands | |
| Netherlands |
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The Senate of the Netherlands (in Dutch: Eerste Kamer der Staten-Generaal [Dutch pronunciation: [ˈeːrstə ˈkaːmər dər ˈstaːtə(n) ˌɣeːnəˈraːɫ]], literally "First Chamber of the States-General", short Eerste Kamer) is the upper house of the Dutch parliament, the States-General. It was established in 1815, when the Netherlands and Belgium emerged as a single state at the end of the Napoleonic wars, and continued after Belgian secession in 1830.
It currently has 75 members, elected by the members of the twelve States-Provincial (provincial councils) every four years. Unlike the politically more significant House of Representatives, it meets only one day a week. Its members tend to be veteran politicians or part-time politicians at the national level, often having other roles. It has the right to accept or reject legislative proposals, but not to amend them or to initiate legislation. Members of the Senate are elected indirectly through the States-Provincial, which in turn are elected by the people of the Netherlands every four years. The States-Provincial work in the same way as the House of Representatives. After elections for the States-Provincial, their new membership elects people to take a seat in the Senate.
| Parties | Seats 2011 | Seats 2007 | Seats 2003 | Seats 1999 | Seats 1995 | Seats 1991 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) | 16 | 14 | 15 | 19 | 23 | 12 |
| Labour Party (PvdA) | 14 | 14 | 19 | 15 | 14 | 16 |
| Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) | 11 | 21 | 23 | 20 | 19 | 27 |
| Party for Freedom (PVV) | 10 | |||||
| Socialist Party (SP) | 8 | 12 | 4 | 2 | 1 | |
| Democrats 66 (D66) | 5 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 12 |
| GreenLeft (GL) | 5 | 4 | 5 | 8 | 4 | 4 |
| Christian Union (CU) | 2 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 2* | 2* |
| Political Reformed Party (SGP) | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| 50PLUS (50+) | 1 | |||||
| Party for the Animals (PvdD) | 1 | 1 | ||||
| Independent Senate Group (OSF) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| Pim Fortuyn List (LPF) | 1 | |||||
| General Elderly Alliance (AOV) | 2 | |||||
| Total | 75 | 75 | 75 | 75 | 75 | 75 |
* Reformatory Political Federation (RPF) and Reformed Political League (GPV)
On June 7, 2011 the new Senate has been installed.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
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