Parliament is scheduled to formalise an ad-hoc committee that will investigate and make recommendations on electoral reform today, Monday. This announcement in Saturday’s paper was understandably met with a degree of scepticism.
After all, especially the “jumping ship” issue has been in discussion practically since St. Maarten became an autonomous country within the Dutch Kingdom per 10-10-10. During that time there have been no fewer than seven different governments, almost one per year.
The associated political instability and lack of governing continuity has sparked calls to stop this practice. However, that is easier said than done.
The first option was to have seats in the legislature “belong” to the party that earned them based on its total number of votes rather than to the individuals occupying these because of their position on the candidate list. This would no longer enable faction members to declare themselves independent and help form other coalitions.
But the idea was considered in conflict with the “free mandate” principle in the Dutch parliamentary system, meaning that an elected representative should be able to take positions according to his or her own conscience and not necessarily the party’s directives. Forcing a parliamentarian to give up their seat in case of a dispute goes against that, confirmed the Kingdom Council of State.
The next suggestion was that candidates who earn their seats outright, usually just a handful, should be able to keep those against the party’s wishes. Others elected into office thanks to their position on the list would not have that privilege.
This too was found in violation of the free mandate and effectively creates two types of Members of Parliament (MPs): some with “own” seats and those who must toe the party line or risk being replaced. The same problem surrounded a third alternative to allow all members to break with their respective faction, but their seat could then not be used to create a new majority.
An added problem of the latter proposal was that one could easily end up with lame-duck governments which no longer have the required legislative backing to get laws passed, but can’t be removed.
If the past eight years have taught anything, it’s that the quality of politicians ought to be the biggest concern. At least half a dozen MPs have so far been under investigation for suspected wrongdoings.
In other words; it’s not so much the system but those abusing it.
