Saturday, 12 December 2015 - 18:05
Parliament leader resigns amid scandal
The chairman of the lower house of Dutch parliament announced her resignation on Saturday after she was linked to a long-running political controversy in the Netherlands. Anouchka van Miltenburg, 48, ran the Tweede Kamer since September 25, 2012.
She became a member of parliament on behalf of the right wing VVD party in 2003. Prior to that she was a freelance journalist.
Trouble began last week for Van Miltenburg on the revelation that she received an anonymous letter detailing inaccuracies in testimony about a backdoor deal between them-Justice Secretary Fred Teeven and drug dealer Cees H. Teeven authorized an agreement when he was a prosecutor where H. would receive nearly five million guilders, but parliament was later told the agreement was valued at under two million.
Van Miltenburg shredded the anonymous letters, and said she did not pursue the matter further. Once a receipt for the payout was discovered earlier this year, Teeven and Justice Minister Ivo Opstelten resigned from office.