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Dutch cabinet resigned
I know I should probably say something about the major political news that happened in the Netherlands while I was in the hospital, but right now I don’t really care very much… feel free to talk about it amongst yourselves in the comments…
Update: details
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Well, it fills those soccerless evenings…
How’d you guys manage this one ? Can I get this deal in the States ?
Verdonk is not a politician, in fact she’s terrible at it. She is not a dealmaker, lousy speaker, a very bad liar and her hidden agenda is in plain sight. So she has had a string of clumsy run-ins with parliament (always getting the benefit of doubt) and this Hirsi Ali thing was the so called last straw. What made it worse this time is she made Hirsi Ali sign a ‘mea culpa’ statement that was intended for Verdonk to save face, but was presented to parliament as a legal prerequisite (which was untrue). It was this abuse of power that got the ball rolling.
Surely you have plenty of similar politicians like this working in DC right now. So, get started!
Oh, and on the rules-and-procedures part: The Government of Netherlands is a parliamentary democracy and Queen Beatrix is head of state. Like the British Queen, the role is largely ceremonial, but her signature must be put to any Act of Parliament in order for it to become law. She has the power to dissolve parliament, but generally only does so upon request of the parliament. Dutch politics, indeed Dutch society in general, is very much consensus based. The Queen has a constitutional role to play at times like this, and the goal for her is to make sure the country is governed right during this time of transition. Again the consensus part shows up: she’s been consulting with the heads of both chambers of parliament and the heads of all the major political parties to find a way forward. When reading the law in a literal sense she could just decide and be done with it, but that would shock the nation and probably jump-start a movement to reform the nation into a republic instead of a monarchy.