Queen Maxima is facing criticism over a meeting she had with Mohammed bin Salman at the G20 summit in Osaka on Friday. The controversial crown prince of Saudi Arabia is accused of orchestrating the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in October last year. Multiple Dutch parliamentarians criticized the meeting. UN rapporteur Agnes Callamard, who investigated the journalist's murder, called it "extraordinarily disappointing" that the Dutch Queen did not broach this topic. Prime Minister Mark Rutte is baffled by the commotion.
Bram van Ojik
Jul 1 '19 08:54
Dec 27 '16 14:25
A total of 42 Dutch parliamentarians resigned since the previous election in 2012. That is the most of any cabinet since 1981, the Financieele Dagblad reports based on data from the Parliamentary Documentation Center of Leiden University. On average 35 parliamentarians resign during a typical four year term of government.
Nov 21 '16 14:00
Former GroenLinks leader Bram van Ojik may return to the Tweede Kamer, the lower house of Dutch parliament. His name is on the 10th spot on GroenLinks list of candidates, which was presented on Sunday, NRC reports.
Van Ojik, 62, decided to step down as GroenLinks leader halfway through his term in may last year. He handed over the reigns of the party to current leader 30-year-old Jesse Klaver.
May 12 '15 12:40
GroenLinks leader Bram van Ojik resigned his roles as both leader of leftist party GroenLinks and his position as a Member of Parliament. He announced the decision in a letter to his fellow party members on Tuesday.
Mar 18 '15 11:33
Rotterdam Mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb (PvdA) and Amsterdam Mayor Eberhard van der Laan (PvdA) are the most popular politicians in the Netherlands. Geert Wilders (PVV) is the received the least love and ended up on the bottom of the list as the least popular politician in the Netherlands.
Mar 12 '15 07:20
Prime Minister Mark Rutte (VVD) is not happy with the fact that some opposition parties are ignoring his call to work with the Cabinet after next week's provincial elections, Trouw reports.
Mar 11 '15 13:24
GroenLinks will not be part of a "prop-up construction" should the Cabinet need more parties for a majority in the Eerste Kamer, the Senate, after next week's provincial elections, NRC reports.
Jan 14 '15 23:59
Labour party PvdA leader Diederik Samsom accused anti-Islam PVV leader Geert Wilders of being as manipulative as terrorists in parliamentary debate Wednesday night. Samsom said that Wilders “does precisely the same as what the terrorists do: spread hatred, fear and division.”
Oct 7 '14 11:08
"Already high costs and lack of openness ... make the king unnecessarily vulnerable," D66 leader Alexander Pechtold writes referring to the 127 million euro palace renovations. He calls this "exorbitantly high".
Mar 21 '14 10:07
Prime Minister Mark Rutte announced on Thursday that any collaboration with the PVV of Geert Wilders has become impossible due to the PVV's standpoints.
Mar 20 '14 09:18
Geert Wilders, with his choice of words about the entire population of Morocco and their unwelcome place in The Hague, has angered many, but one politician is taking a moment to address other political parties about what the statement means for them.
Oct 10 '13 06:32
By total surprise GroenLinks has announced on Wednesday to stop with the negotiations to find a solution for the National Dutch Budget.
Bram van Ojik told in TV show Pauw and Witteman, that he didn’t see any progress and therefore decided to step out.
Oct 8 '13 02:39
On Monday the negotiation between opposition and government started again after the weekend. At 10 pm crucial discussions started between Rutte, Dijselbloem and the group leaders of the House of D66, GroenLinks, SGP, ChristenUnie, PvdA and VVD.
On Monday afternoon Vice Prime Minister Asscher and minister of Finance Dijsselbloem first talked with all the financial specialists of the involved parties. The meeting started at 1.30 pm till 6 pm.
Sep 27 '13 04:12
Prime Minister Rutte debated more than six hours today with the opposition about the plans for 2014. No final commitments were done, so what was achieved?
Jul 2 '13 03:19
The discussions between a delegation of the government and opposition parties D66 and GroenLinks has failed. "The negotiations have stopped," said D66 leader Alexander Pechtold on Monday about their conversations to see how they could help to realize several coalition agreements.
These included the topics 'arrangements for parents with children' and 'higher education'. Pechtold: "There's too much difference between the wishes of D66 to invest in education and the opportunities that the government wants to create. This could have been an agreement."
