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Martin Bosma

Martin Bosma
Bosma in 2023
Speaker of the House of Representatives
Incumbent
Assumed office
14 December 2023
Preceded byVera Bergkamp
Member of the House of Representatives
Incumbent
Assumed office
30 November 2006
Personal details
Born (1964-07-16) 16 July 1964 (age 60)
Wormer, Netherlands
Political partyParty for Freedom (2006–present)
Alma materUniversity of Amsterdam
New School of Social Research

Martin Bosma (born 16 July 1964) is a Dutch politician and former journalist who has been serving as the Speaker of the House of Representatives since 14 December 2023. He entered the House of Representatives for the Party for Freedom (PVV) on 30 November 2006, and served as his party's spokesperson on matters of higher education, mass media and culture. He also served as Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives from 2010 until 2023. On 14 December 2023, he was elected Speaker of the House of Representatives.

Early years and education

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Born in Wormer, Bosma studied political science with a specialisation in public administration at the University of Amsterdam and sociology at the New School of Social Research in New York City. He has been pursuing a doctorate at the University of Amsterdam, but his dissertation about the Dutch involvement in the anti-apartheid movement was rejected for a second time in 2024. His initial supervisor was Meindert Fennema.[1]

He worked many years for several news media, first as a reporter for one of his local papers, De Zaanlander, and as one of the principal anchormen for Hoeksteen Live, a monthly cable TV programme in the 1990s described as a "political programme with a cultural supplement",[2] and subsequently for outlets including CNN Business News, ABC's Nightline and NOS Journaal. From 2002 to 2004 he was director of Nederlandse Radiogroep and from 2004 to 2006 he was active as a political consultant for the PVV's predecessor Groep Wilders.

Politics

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Member of parliament

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Since 2004, Bosma worked for the 'Wilders Group' and later for the Party for Freedom (PVV) that emerged from it, including as campaign manager. He also wrote many of Geert Wilders' speeches.[3] Bosma was first elected to the House of Representatives in the 2006 general election.

For the PVV, Bosma was spokesperson for media and culture and secretary of the PVV party. He has been highly critical of public broadcasting, usually referred to by him as the "state broadcaster". Bosma is a declared opponent of the Dutch public broadcasting system. He has often spoken of what he considers the left-wing character of public broadcasting, which he considers in violation of the Dutch Media Act. He is also an opponent of subsidies to the arts. In March 2009, Bosma submitted a motion to limit the number of current affairs programs on Dutch public broadcasters VARA and NPS starting in 2010. This should reduce the "leftist character" of public broadcasting.[4] In September 2009, he submitted parliamentary questions about "Islam propaganda" in public broadcasting children's programs. The parliamentary questions were submitted in response to a preschool program on public TV about Eid al-Fitr.[5]

Bosma has put in doubt the impartiality of the Judiciary of the Netherlands, claiming that "judges in the Netherlands are independent but not impartial; we see that many rulings resemble D66's program". Opposition leader Jesse Klaver of GroenLinks confronted him during his 2023 candidacy for Speaker of the House of Representatives with his claim. In his reply, Bosma defended that position stating he did so in his role as member of the House of Representatives, and that as Speaker of the House of Representatives, he will guard the Dutch separation of powers and do so neutrally.[6]

Bosma regularly argues that there is "repopulation" in the Netherlands.[7] According to that controversial theory, the original Dutch population is being replaced by a new population. The Dutch National Coordinator for Security and Counterterrorism (NCTV) has identified this theory as one of the focus areas of the Dutch right-wing extremist scene to normalise their extremists ideology.[8][9]

During the 2010 cabinet formation, Bosma was active as a negotiator. Together with his party colleague Tony van Dijck, he spent six weeks at the Ministry of Finance in order to find 18 billion euros in budget cuts with Minister Jan Kees de Jager (CDA) and State Secretary Frans Weekers (VVD).

Speaker of the House

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Bosma became a member of the Presidium of the House of Representatives on 30 June 2010, serving as the Second Deputy Speaker. As such, when Gerdi Verbeet resigned as Speaker on 20 September 2012, Bosma served as Acting Speaker of the House of Representatives until 25 September 2012.[10] He attempted to become Speaker in the 2016 election, but he came fourth, obtaining sixteen votes in the first round of voting.[11] He retained his position of Second Deputy Speaker. In April 2021, he made another attempt to become Speaker. On 14 December 2023, he finally succeeded with 75 votes out of 148 cast in total.[12] He had been re-elected the month before, and he became his party's spokesperson for the interior.[13]

As speaker, Bosma opened meetings of the House of Representatives by reciting different poems.[14] During the Israel–Hamas war, pro-Palestinian protesters entered the building of the House on several occasions despite the parliament's ban on demonstrations indoor. Bosma decided to file criminal complaints.[15]

In May 2024, shortly after the agreement between PVV, VVD, NSC and BBB to form a new Dutch government was presented, Bosma interrupted Laurens Dassen of Volt Netherlands in a plenary debate for using the word extreemrechts ("extreme right") when referring to the Party for Freedom. According to Bosma, parties or members of the House should not be referred to as extreme right, as it is a Nazi comparison. A number of members rallied around Dassen, arguing Bosma compromised his independence with this intervention. Bosma did not retract his words, despite members' requests.[16] Later that year, Bosma's invitation to the national slavery remembrance on Ketikoti was withdrawn because of statements he made before becoming speaker.[17]

Electoral history

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Electoral history of Martin Bosma
Year Body Party Pos. Votes Result Ref.
Party seats Individual
2006 House of Representatives Party for Freedom 5 391 9 Won [18]
2010 House of Representatives Party for Freedom 5 1,955 24 Won [19]
2012 House of Representatives Party for Freedom 3 3,808 15 Won [20]
2017 House of Representatives Party for Freedom 6 6,430 20 Won [21]
2021 House of Representatives Party for Freedom 7 22,781 17 Won [22]
2023 House of Representatives Party for Freedom 5 47,189 37 Won [23]

Honours

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Bibliography

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References

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  1. ^ Meijer, Remco (23 September 2024). "Negatieve beoordeling proefschrift nekt Martin Bosma's academische ambitie" [Negative assessment of dissertation ruins Martins Bosma's academic ambition]. de Volkskrant (in Dutch). Retrieved 23 September 2024.
  2. ^ Derkzen, Sophie (27 June 2009). "Martin Bosma van de PVV". Vrij Nederland. Retrieved 13 March 2012.
  3. ^ Jekyll & Hyde Vrij Nederland, (in Dutch) 18 september 2009
  4. ^ Bosma: Te veel actualiteitenprogramma’s bij VARA en NPS, PVV, (in Dutch) 19 maart 2009
  5. ^ Islampropaganda voor peuters op publieke omroep PVV, (in Dutch) 24 september 2009
  6. ^ Plenary Report House of Representatives, 25th session, 14 December 2023 14 December, 2023
  7. ^ VVD and NSC doubt presidency Bosma: 'Have great difficulty with his repopulation theory', Algemeen Dagblad, (in Dutch) 14 December 2014
  8. ^ Right-wing terrorism and extremism, NCTV (in Dutch)
  9. ^ Plenary Report House of Representatives, 9th session, October 6, 2022 (in Dutch) October 6, 2023
  10. ^ "Drs. M. (Martin) Bosma". Parlement & Politiek (in Dutch). Retrieved 1 August 2017.
  11. ^ "PvdA-Kamerlid Arib is de nieuwe voorzitter van de Tweede Kamer". NOS (in Dutch). 13 January 2016. Retrieved 1 August 2017.
  12. ^ Martin Bosma (PVV) new Speaker of the House of Representatives, NOS.nl, 14 december 2023.
  13. ^ "Tweede Kamerfractie" [House of Representatives group]. Party for Freedom (in Dutch). Retrieved 31 March 2024.
  14. ^ Hoedeman, Jan (3 May 2024). "Vriend en vijand roemen gezag van 'knetterneutrale' Martin Bosma, sfeer verbeterd: 'Kramp lijkt eruit'" [Friends and foes praise authority of 'crazy neutral' Martin Bosma, atmosphere improves: 'Hostility is seemingly gone']. Algemeen Dagblad (in Dutch). Retrieved 4 May 2024.
  15. ^ "Pro-Palestijnse demonstranten onderbreken Kamerdebat nogmaals" [Pro-Palestinian demonstrators again interrupt House debate]. Algemeen Dagblad (in Dutch). 25 April 2024. Retrieved 25 April 2024.
  16. ^ "Kamervoorzitter Bosma botst over etiket 'extreemrechts': 'Nazi-vergelijking'" [Speaker of the House Bosma clashes over 'far-right' label: 'Nazi comparison']. Nederlandse Omroep Stichting (in Dutch). 16 May 2024. Retrieved 17 May 2024.
  17. ^ "Haagse delegatie in Amsterdam voor Keti Koti, Bosma grote afwezige" [Delegation from The Hague for Ketikoti, Bosma's the notable absentee]. NOS (in Dutch). 1 July 2024. Retrieved 1 July 2024.
  18. ^ "Proces-verbaal zitting Kiesraad uitslag Tweede Kamerverkiezing 2006" [Records meeting Duch Electoral Council results 2006 general election] (PDF). Dutch Electoral Council (in Dutch). 27 November 2006. pp. 131–132. Retrieved 22 December 2023.
  19. ^ "Uitslag Tweede Kamerverkiezing 2010" [Results 2010 general election] (PDF). Dutch Electoral Council (in Dutch). 16 June 2010. p. 31. Retrieved 22 December 2023.
  20. ^ "Uitslag Tweede Kamerverkiezing 2012" [Results 2012 general election] (PDF). Dutch Electoral Council (in Dutch). 17 September 2012. pp. 60–61. Retrieved 22 December 2023.
  21. ^ "Uitslag Tweede Kamerverkiezing 2017 (getekend exemplaar)" [Results House of Representatives 2017 (signed example)] (PDF). Dutch Electoral Council (in Dutch). 21 March 2017. pp. 64–65. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
  22. ^ "Proces-verbaal verkiezingsuitslag Tweede Kamer 2021" [Report of the election results House of Representatives 2021] (PDF). Dutch Electoral Council (in Dutch). 29 March 2021. pp. 18–19. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
  23. ^ "Proces-verbaal van de uitslag van de verkiezing van de Tweede Kamer der Staten-Generaal 2023 d.d. 4 december 2023" [Report of the results of the election of the House of Representatives on 4 December 2023] (PDF). Dutch Electoral Council (in Dutch). 4 December 2023. pp. 33–34. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
  24. ^ "Real Decreto 377/2024, de 9 de abril, por el que se concede la Gran Cruz de la Orden del Mérito Civil a las personalidades neerlandesas que se citan" [Royal Decree 377/2024, of April 9, by which the Grand Cross of the Order of Civil Merit is awarded to the Dutch personalities mentioned.] (in Spanish). 9 April 2024.
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Political offices
Preceded by Speaker of the House of Representatives
2023–present 		Incumbent