PHILIPSBURG--Parliament will soon add yet another committee to its already existing line-up of three permanent and ad hoc committees. This new committee will target electoral reform, a legal area that has caused much of the country’s political instability in the almost eight years of its existence as a country within the Dutch Kingdom.
The proposal to form the ad hoc committee was before the Central Committee of Parliament on Monday. The ad hoc committee will look at amending the current electoral laws and regulations to effect more stable governments.
Members of Parliament (MPs) agreed that the committee was necessary and will now move on to a plenary sitting of the legislature to formalise the committee and approve its membership. Membership on the committee will be opened to all MPs.
Electoral reform and the calls for solutions to ship-jumping (MPs declaring themselves independent from the party with which they were elected and collapsing coalition governments to subsequently form new ones) have been buzz words since 2010 when the first “ship-jumpers” emerged.
Despite electoral reform being a stated goal for several coalitions over the years, no actual changes have been made to the country’s electoral system. The formation of this ad hoc committee seeks to bring about tangible changes.
