King's commissioner

Last updated
Map provinces Netherlands-en.svgLimburgZeelandZeelandZeelandZeelandZeelandGelderlandSouth HollandSouth HollandNorth HollandNorth HollandNorth HollandNorth HollandUtrechtFlevolandFlevolandOverijsselDrentheGroningen (province)Groningen (province)Groningen (province)FrieslandFrieslandFrieslandFrieslandFrieslandFrieslandFrieslandNorth BrabantSint EustatiusSint EustatiusSabaSabaBonaireBonaireBonaire
Clickable image of provinces of the Netherlands

A King's commissioner (Dutch : Commissaris van de Koning, CvdK) is the head of government and legislature in a province of the Netherlands. When the reigning monarch is a woman, the title is Queen's commissioner (Commissaris van de Koningin).

Contents

A commissioner is appointed by the Dutch Crown as its official representative, and serves as the non-voting chair of the provincial legislature, the States-Provincial. He or she also serves as chair and full and voting member of the Provincial executive.

Background

The government of the Netherlands consist of the national institutions, the twelve provinces and the 342 municipalities. The three tiers are largely organised in the same way, with a directly elected legislature, which in turn elects the executive branch, that is headed by an chairperson appointed by the Dutch monarch and the Dutch crown respectively.

The provinces form the regional administration, between the national and municipal levels. They are responsible for issues such as spatial planning and health care, within the bounds prescribed by the national government. The provinces also oversee policy and finances of municipalities and other lesser authorities such as water boards.

The provincial legislature, called the States-Provincial or Provincial Council, are elected by direct popular vote every four years. The executive authority is exercised collectively by the College of the King's Commissioner and the Provincial executive. The latter is elected by, and are accountable to, the provincial council.

Appointment

The King's Commissioner is appointed by the Dutch Crown, meaning the Council of Ministers of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, for a term of six years, renewable. An appointed commissioner can only be dismissed by the Crown.

When a vacancy arises, the States Provincial express their preferences to the Minister of the Interior and Kingdom Relations, who, in turn, presents a candidate for appointment by the Council of Ministers.

The candidates are almost exclusively drawn from among prominent members of the major national political parties, but are expected to be politically impartial while exercising their office.

Responsibilities

Naming practice in Limburg

In the Dutch province of Limburg, the King's Commissioner is informally referred to as Governor (Dutch: Gouverneur), drawing on the corresponding office in the bordering Belgian province of Limburg. Accordingly, the Province Hall (Provinciehuis) at Maastricht is thus often referred to as the Governor's Residence (Gouvernement).

This local custom arose from the particular status of the province in the nineteenth century. The official name of the office, however, is the King's Commissioner just as in the other Dutch provinces.

List of current King's commissioners

Province King's commissionerPartyServing sincePrevious office
Drenthe Jetta Klijnsma 2015 (1).jpg Jetta Klijnsma
(born 1957)
Labour Party 1 December 2017
(6 years, 363 days)
State Secretary for
Social Affairs
and Employment
Flevoland Arjen Gerritsen.jpg Arjen Gerritsen
(born 1970)
People's Party
for Freedom and
Democracy
1 November 2023
(1 year, 27 days)
Mayor of Almelo
Friesland Burgemeester-brok-1366958702 (cropped).jpg Arno Brok
(born 1968)
People's Party
for Freedom and
Democracy
1 March 2017
(7 years, 272 days)
Mayor of Dordrecht
Gelderland Henri Lenferink - 2021.jpg Henri Lenferink
(born 1957)
Labour Party 2 November 2023
(1 year, 26 days)
Acting
Mayor of Leiden
Groningen Rene paas-1573367441 (cropped).jpg René Paas
(born 1966)
Christian
Democratic Appeal
18 April 2016
(8 years, 224 days)
Member of the Social
and Economic Council
Limburg Emile Roemer 2012-1.jpg Emile Roemer
(born 1962)
Socialist Party 1 December 2021
(2 years, 363 days)
Acting
Mayor of Alkmaar
North Brabant Ina Adema-wikipedia.jpg Ina Adema
(born 1968)
People's Party
for Freedom and
Democracy
1 October 2020
(4 years, 58 days)
Mayor of Lelystad
North Holland Arthur van Dijk - 2021.jpg Arthur van Dijk
(born 1963)
People's Party
for Freedom and
Democracy
1 January 2019
(5 years, 332 days)
Member of the Social
and Economic Council
Overijssel Andries Heidema.jpg Andries Heidema
(born 1962)
Christian Union 11 July 2018
(6 years, 140 days)
Mayor of Deventer
South Holland Wouter-kolff-burgemeester-gemeente-veenendaal-1426788130.jpg Wouter Kolff
(born 1976)
People's Party
for Freedom and
Democracy
1 September 2024
(88 days)
Mayor of Dordrecht
Utrecht Netherlands politic personality icon.svg Hans Oosters
(born 1962)
Labour Party 1 February 2019
(5 years, 301 days)
Dijkgraaf
Zeeland Hugo de Jonge, February 2023.jpg Hugo de Jonge
(born 1977)
Christian
Democratic Appeal
15 September 2024
(74 days)
Acting
Minister of the Interior
and Kingdom Relations

Source: [1]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Limburg (Netherlands)</span> Province of the Netherlands

Limburg, also known as Dutch Limburg, is the southernmost of the twelve provinces of the Netherlands. It is bordered by Gelderland to the north and by North Brabant to its west. Its long eastern boundary forms the international border with the state of North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany. To the west is the international border with the similarly named Belgian province of Limburg, part of which is delineated by the river Meuse. To the south, Limburg is bordered by the Belgian province of Liège. The Vaalserberg is on the extreme southeastern point, marking the tripoint of the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Local government</span> Lowest in the administration pyramid

Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of governance or public administration within a particular sovereign state.

A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the type of political region or polity, a governor may be either appointed or elected, and the governor's powers can vary significantly, depending on the public laws in place locally. The adjective pertaining to a governor is gubernatorial, from the Latin root gubernare. In a federated state, the governor may serve as head of state and head of government for their regional polity, while still operating under the laws of the federation, which has its own head of state for the entire federation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Provinces of the Netherlands</span>

There are twelve provinces of the Netherlands representing the administrative layer between the national government and the local governments, with responsibility for matters of subnational or regional importance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Politics of the Netherlands</span>

The Netherlands is a parliamentary representative democracy. A constitutional monarchy, the country is organised as a decentralised unitary state. The Netherlands can be described as a consociational state. Dutch politics and governance are characterised by a common striving for broad consensus on important issues, within both of the political community and society as a whole.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Constitution of the Netherlands</span> Basic law of the Netherlands

The Constitution of the Kingdom of the Netherlands

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Provinces of Belgium</span> Subdivisions of Belgium

The Kingdom of Belgium is divided into three regions. Two of these regions, Flanders and Wallonia, are each subdivided into five provinces. The third region, Brussels, does not belong to any province, nor is it subdivided into provinces. Instead, it has amalgamated both regional and provincial functions into a single "Capital Region" administration.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">States General of the Netherlands</span> Supreme legislature of the Netherlands

The States General of the Netherlands is the supreme bicameral legislature of the Netherlands consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. Both chambers meet at the Binnenhof in The Hague.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elections in the Netherlands</span>

Elections in the Netherlands are held for five territorial levels of government: the European Union, the state, the twelve provinces, the 21 water boards and the 342 municipalities. Apart from elections, referendums were also held occasionally, but were removed from the law in 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elections in Belgium</span>

Elections in Belgium are organised for legislative bodies only, and not for executive functions. Direct elections take place for the European Parliament, the Chamber of Representatives, the Parliaments of the Regions, the Parliaments of the Communities, the provincial councils, the municipal councils and the councils of Districts of Antwerp. Voting is mandatory in federal elections, and all elections use proportional representation which in general requires coalition governments.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Burgomaster</span> Archaic term for a mayor

Burgomaster is the English form of various terms in or derived from Germanic languages for the chief magistrate or executive of a city or town. The name in English was derived from the Dutch burgemeester.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Johan Remkes</span> Dutch politician (born 1951)

Johannes Wijnandus "Johan" Remkes is a Dutch politician and nonprofit director who served as Deputy Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 2002 to 2003 under Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende. He is a member of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Politics of Manitoba</span> Political system of Manitoba

The Province of Manitoba, similar to other Canadian provinces and territories, is governed through a Westminster-based parliamentary system. The Manitoba government's authority to conduct provincial affairs is derived from the Constitution of Canada, which divides legislative powers among the federal parliament and the provincial legislatures. Manitoba operates through three branches of government: the executive, the legislative, and the judicial. The executive branch—the Government of Manitoba—consists of the Executive Council and the Premier, who is the head of government and the President of the Executive Council. The legislative branch—the Manitoba Legislature—is composed of the Lieutenant Governor and the Legislative Assembly, which is composed of the 57 members (MLAs) elected to represent the people of Manitoba, as well as the Speaker, the Clerk, the Officers of the Legislative Assembly, and the employees of the legislative service.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Provincial council (Netherlands)</span> Provincial parliament in the Netherlands

The provincial council, also known as the States-Provincial, is the provincial parliament and legislative assembly in each of the provinces of the Netherlands. It is elected for each province simultaneously once every four years and has the responsibility for matters of sub-national or regional importance. The number of seats in a provincial council is proportional to its population.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Provincial politics in the Netherlands</span>

The politics of the Dutch provinces takes places within the framework of the politics of the Netherlands. The province is the second-highest level of government, after the national government. The Netherlands is divided into twelve provinces.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Municipal executive</span>

In the Netherlands, the municipal executive is the executive board of a municipality. It plays a central role in municipal politics in the Netherlands, similar to the communal college in Belgium. It consists of the mayor and the members of the municipal executive (aldermen).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Municipal politics in the Netherlands</span>

Municipal politics in the Netherlands is an important aspect of the politics of the Netherlands. The municipality is the lowest level of government, but this does not reflect the importance that the Amsterdam and Rotterdam governments play in Dutch political life. There are a total of 342 municipalities in the Netherlands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Provinces of Nepal</span> First-level administrative division of Nepal

Provinces of Nepal officially the Autonomous Nepalese Provinces were formed on 20 September 2015 in accordance with Schedule 4 of the Constitution of Nepal. The seven provinces were formed by grouping the existing districts. The current system of seven provinces replaced an earlier system where Nepal was divided into 14 administrative zones which were grouped into five development regions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">René Paas</span> Dutch politician

Frederik Johannes "René" Paas is a Dutch politician of the Christian Democratic Appeal. He was chairman of the Christelijk Nationaal Vakverbond from 2005 to 2009. He has been the King's Commissioner in the province of Groningen since 18 April 2016.

References

  1. "Overzicht commissarissen van de Koning per februari 2022". rijksoverheid.nl (in Dutch). February 2022. Retrieved 17 March 2022.