D66 MP Vera Bergkamp is the new parliamentary chairwoman

Vera Bergkamp hears she has won. Below Khadija Arib. Photo: Remco de Waal ANP
Vera Bergkamp hears she has won. Below Khadija Arib. Photo: Remco de Waal ANP

D66 MP Vera Bergkamp has won the vote to become the new chairwoman of the lower house of the Dutch parliament, beating sitting chairwoman Khadija Arib (PvdA) and deputy chairman Martin Bosma from the anti-Islam PVV.

Bergkamp took 74 out of 139 votes in the first round, with Arib on 38 and Bosma on 27.

In her acceptance speech, Bergkamp stressed that she would chair parliament on behalf of all parties.

‘We face an enormous task,’ she said, before going on to refer to the tax benefit scandal, the planned move of the lower house to a new location while the current building is renovated and the fact there are now 17 parties in parliament.

Thank you for donating to DutchNews.nl.

We could not provide the Dutch News service, and keep it free of charge, without the generous support of our readers. Your donations allow us to report on issues you tell us matter, and provide you with a summary of the most important Dutch news each day.

Make a donation