Speaker of the House of Representatives

The speaker of the House of Representatives is one of the 150 members of the House of Representatives of the Netherlands, elected to lead the meetings of the House. The speaker also chairs the Chamber's Presidium and the Procedure Committee. Prior to the 1982 constitutional revision, the speaker was appointed by the Crown. The office is currently held by Vera Bergkamp of Democrats 66 (D66). She was elected to succeed Khadija Arib. She was on her turn elected on 13 January 2016 in an interim election, after Speaker Anouchka van Miltenburg of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) resigned on 12 December 2015. She was First Deputy and Acting Speaker until her election. Duties As a member of the House of Representatives, the speaker has the same rights and obligations as other members. The speaker leads the meetings of the House. The officeholder opens and closes the meetings and determines who speaks. The members of the House, as well as Ministers and State Secretaries are not supposed to address each other directly, but always address the speaker instead, as a method to encourage civility. While the speaker also takes part in the voting (as a regular member of the House of Representatives), the officeholder typically does not participate in debates. Besides leading the meetings, the speaker represents the House of Representatives as a whole, such as in ceremonies and with visits by foreign heads of state. The speaker is also the chair of the Presidium, which is responsible for determining the budget of the House, setting its agenda and appointing its staff. The speaker is supported by deputy speakers, ranked by number in order of precedence, which also are members of the House. If the speaker is unable to fulfill their duties or the position becomes vacant, then the meeting is chaired by the first deputy speaker. The speaker has a seat with a backrest that is higher than the other seats in the House.