VideoThe House of Representatives reacted with anger this afternoon when it turned out that Minister Sigrid Kaag (Finance) was not available for the oral question time. While MPs wanted to ask her about the collapsing purchasing power of the Dutch, the minister was in Maastricht to give a speech about Europe.
Lilian Marijnissen (SP) wanted to ask what the cabinet will do to dampen the economic effects of the high inflation, fuel prices and the turmoil caused by the war in Ukraine, but Kaag was not there. Because Prime Minister Rutte was having a meeting and Kaag had unsubscribed, State Secretary Aukje de Vries took a seat in section K, but that was not an option for the MPs. “A lot is happening in the world, I understand that,” said Marijnissen. “But she is giving a speech somewhere, she should have been here.”
Henk Nijboer (PvdA): ,,There should be decency from the cabinet. And that includes not giving any speeches during Question Time. You should not accept that,” he addressed Chamber President Vera Bergkamp.
Geert Wilders spoke of an ‘unprecedented shame’. ,,Speech about Europe, while people can’t pay their bills. This was once but never again.” Jesse Klaver (GroenLinks) wants Kaag to come to the House of Representatives later this afternoon. Bergkamp will now inquire about this. Klaver: ,,Speech on Tuesday afternoon is no reason not to be here. Let her come back.” The SGP and BBB also joined in that call.
Cabinet members may fail to attend question time, but they must actually have a directly work-related reason for doing so. The rules for this are not set in stone, although the Handbook for Ministers states that ministers ‘on Tuesdays between 2 and 3 p.m. are expected to ‘not make domestic agreements at that time’. Nevertheless, the House accepted that Rutte is preparing for a foreign summit.
Bergkamp has previously complained by letter that ministers were absent too often and had themselves replaced. “I want to repeat such a call by letter”, Bergkamp said. Apparently a reminder is needed, she noted.
Finally, after some delay, she called officials from Kaag, but it turned out that they could not come to the House of Representatives this afternoon. She still has a working visit to Belgium on the program, which is about the return of ‘plastic waste in the Meuse’. According to a spokesperson for her ministry, Kaag had already been canceled for question time ‘a few weeks ago’, also because of the working visit to Belgium.
Prime Minister Rutte is now coming to attend question time. He said he would be able to come to the House later today to answer the questions.
Marijnissen still wanted to make her grievances known: “It is very good that the Prime Minister can come, but Mrs. Kaag will also be on TV tonight to talk about purchasing power…I would like to say that I find it contemptuous that she goes on TV and makes speeches, but is not here.”
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