Country Profile
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of Netherlands, located in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean.The Netherlands in its entirety is often referred to as Holland, although North and South Holland are actually only 2 of its12 Provinces.
The Netherlands is a geographically low-lying country, with about 25% of its area and 21% of its population located below sea level, and 50% of its land lying less than one metre.This distinct feature contributes to the country's name: in Dutch (Nederland) which literally means "(The) Low Countries" or "Low Country".
The Netherlands is divided into 12 Administrative Regions, called Provinces, each under a Governor,who is called Commissaris van de Koningin (Commissioner of the Queen), except for the Province Limburg where the commissioner is called Gouverneur (Governor)
Capital Amsterdam
Currency Euro
Official Language Dutch
Population 16.84 Million(2011 Estimate)
Netherlands is a founding member of the -
1)EU
2)NATO
3)WTO
4)OECD
History
Politics and Government
The Netherlands is a Parliamentary Representative Democracy,a Constitutional Monarchy and a Decentralised Unitary State.
Monarchy of the Netherlands
The Kingdom of Netherlands is a Constitutional Monarchy.The Monarchy of the Netherlands passes by right of succession to the heirs of William I(the Sovereign Prince of Netherlands became King of the Netherlands in March 1815).the Netherlands is a Monarchy and has been governed by members of the House of Orange -Nassau since 1815.
The Current Monarch is Beatrix of the Netherlands(from April 30,1980 when her mother Juliana stepped down ) and the Heir Apparent is Williem-Alexander,her son. Constitutionally, the Queen is Head of State and has a role in the formation of government and in the legislative process.
The government of the Netherlands constitutionally consists of the queen and the cabinet ministers. The Queen's role is limited to the formation of government and she does not actively interfere in daily decision-making. The ministers together form the Council of Ministers. This executive council initiates laws and policy.
Prime Minister of the Netherlands
The Prime Minister of the Netherlands is the chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Netherlands.The Prime Minister is the de facto Head of Govt of the Netherlands and coordinates the policy of the government.
The Current Prime Minister is Mark Ruette(of People's Party for Freedom and Democracy - VVD) in office from Oct 14,2010 who became the 1st Liberal Prime Minister in the Netherlands in 92 years.
Mark Ruette formed center-right coalition of liberals and Christian Democrats(CDA), with the outside support of the Party for Freedom(PVV), led by Geert Wilders after the 2010 Dutch General Election.
Mark Rutte is the 1st PM of Netherlands not from aChristian Democratic Party or the Labour Party since 1918
Mark Rutte is the 1st Liberal to become PM since Pieter Cort van der Linden,who was PM from 1913 till 1918.
Mark Rutte is also the first People's Party for Freedom and Democracy - VVD PM of Netherlands
States-General of the Netherlands(Parliament of the Netherlands)
The States-General of the Netherlands is Bicameral consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives.
The Senate has 75 members, elected by the members of the 12 State Provincial (provincial councils) every four years.Members of the Senate are elected indirectly through the States Provincial,, which in turn are elected by the people of the Netherlands every four years.
The House of Representatives has 150 seats directly elected for a 4 year term using a Party List Proportional Representation by Citizens of the Netherlands (aged 18 or over have the right to vote)
Dutch Coalition Govt Falls as PVV Withdrew Support - April 23,2012
The Dutch Prime Minister, Mark Rutte, announced the resignation of his coalition government on Monday April 23,2012 after its partners(Coalition for Freedom -PVV) failed to agree on austerity measures.Rutte tendered his resignation to Queen Beatrix, the head of state, at her palace in The Hague, his office said.
The dissolution of the minority government became inevitable after an ally, the far-right Freedom Party(PVV) of Geert Wilders, abandoned negotiations on Saturday intended to cut a budget shortfall by billions of euros to meet targets agreed to last year in Brussels and to safeguard the country’s coveted AAA credit rating
Mark Rutte’s People's Party for Freedom and Democracy(VVD)has 31 seats in the 150-seat Parliament
while his coalition partners -
Christian Democrats(CDA) have 21 seats
Geert Wilders’s Freedom Party(PVV) has 24 seats
The Opposition Labour Party(PvdA) has 30 seats
while the Socialist Party(SP) have 15 seats
On 27 April 2012, the two government parties Christian Democratic Appeal(CDA) and People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) negotiated a deal to implement an economic reform reducing the Dutch deficit in 2013 to an acceptable level below 3%. This deal was supported by the 3 opposition parties: Christian Union (CU), Democrats66 (D66), and the GreenLeft (GL), and thus backed by 77 out of 150 votes in the parliament. If these 5 parties after the election in September 2012 still represent a parliamentary majority, the agreed economic reform will not be changed, irrespectively of who forms government with who.
The 3 parties Labour Party (PvdA), Party for Freedom (PVV) and Socialist Party (SP), will on the other hand cancel the economic reform if they end up with a parliamentary majority.Note - However the Party for Freedom and the Socialist Party, representing the extreme-right and the extreme-left of the political spectrum, wil never enter into a coalition with eachother.
2012 Dutch General Election - Sep 12,2012
The general election will be held in the on 12 September 2012 after the PM Mark Rutte handed in his government's resignation to Queen Beatrix on April 23,2012
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