Eerste Kamer

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

First Chamber
Eerste Kamer
Type
Type Upper house
Leadership
President Yvonne Timmerman-Buck,
since
Structure
Members 75
Election
Voting system Indirect election
Meeting place
Web site
http://www.eerstekamer.nl/

The Eerste Kamer (First Chamber) is the Upper House or Senate of the Netherlands 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 independence in 1830.

It currently has 75 members, elected by the members of the twelve provincial councils every four years. Unlike the politically more significant Tweede Kamer, 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 Eerste Kamer are elected indirectly through the Provinciale Staten (Provincial Council). Every four years the people of the Netherlands can vote for the Provinciale Staten. The Provinciale Staten works the same way as the Tweede Kamer. After elections for the Provinciale Staten, the new members of Provinciale Staten elect people to take a seat in the Senate (Eerste Kamer).

The current President of the Senate is Yvonne Timmerman-Buck.


The Netherlands

This article is part of the series:
Politics and government of
the Netherlands



Other countries · Atlas
 Politics portal


e • d Composition of the Netherlands First Chamber after the 2007 indirect elections
Parties Seats
Christian Democratic Appeal (Christen-Democratisch Appèl) 21
People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (Volkspartij voor Vrijheid en Democratie) 14
Labour Party (Partij van de Arbeid) 14
Socialist Party (Socialistische Partij) 12
Green Left (GroenLinks) 4
Christian Union (ChristenUnie) 4
Democrats 66 (Democraten 66) 2
Political Reformed Party (Staatkundig Gereformeerde Partij) 2
Party for the Animals (Partij van de Dieren) 1
Independent Senate Group (Onafhankelijke Senaatsfractie) 1
Total 75

[edit] Past composition

[discuss] – [edit]
Composition of the Netherlands First Chamber after the 2003 indirect elections
Parties Seats
Christian Democratic Appeal (Christen-Democratisch Appèl) 23
Labour Party (Partij van de Arbeid) 19
People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (Volkspartij voor Vrijheid en Democratie) 15
Green Left (GroenLinks) 5
Socialist Party (Socialistische Partij) 4
Democrats 66 (Democraten 66) 3
Christian Union (ChristenUnie) 2
Political Reformed Party (Staatkundig Gereformeerde Partij) 2
List Pim Fortuyn (Lijst Pim Fortuyn) 1
Independent Senate Group (Onafhankelijke Senaatsfractie) 1
Total 75

[edit] External links

This is an extract from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia
offerte voli | hoteles | precios | voli | die verzeichnis | annuarie web | stop smoking london