When unacceptable decisions are made in politics, you sometimes hear of the vote of no confidence. But what exactly does this mean?
The motion
A motion is a means of presenting an item for discussion at a meeting. This is possible by every member participating in the meeting and can be done both orally and in writing.
Motions are not allowed:
- Be against the law
- Contrary to the articles of association
- Contrary to a still valid, binding document
- Not meeting all formal requirements (there must be sufficient signatures)
- Not exceeding the authority of the meeting (internal or external)
Motions in the House of Representatives are mainly submitted by the opposition and this happens about a thousand times a year. In 2010, approximately 1,734 motions were submitted.
Motions per year
- 2002: 1158
- 2003:1007
- 2004: 1309
- 2005: 1434
- 2006: 1170
- 2007:1968
- 2008: 2543
- 2009: 2616
The vote of no confidence
The motion of no confidence can be submitted for a board member, several board members or an entire board. This then means that there is no confidence in any of these. For example, the House of Representatives in the Netherlands can submit a motion of no confidence when a political leader does not behave as expected. The person submitting the motion must indicate whether this is a motion of no confidence, because there is no exact rule that says this is such a motion.
Reasons for submitting a motion of no confidence
- Incompetence of person or persons to perform administrative tasks
- Person or persons has/have not acted in the interests of the country
It is therefore stated that there is no longer any confidence in a minister , several ministers or the government.
Implications
When the motion is submitted, it must be determined how much support it receives from the other people. If the motion is passed, the person or persons will have to decide to acquiesce and resign from the position. The person is then resigned and resigns from his or her position.
The less serious form of the motion of no confidence is the motion of censure, or the motion of sadness. Then there is often no need to resign , although this does happen. However, the exact difference between the motions is not clear. A motion of censure can also be interpreted as a motion of no confidence.
Resignation after motion of no confidence
- 1891: Dyserinck (Minister of the Navy): about passing MP Land during promotion
- 1910: Cool (Minister of War): on improving officers’ pensions
- 1916: Treub (Minister of Finance): on the link established between old-age annuity and pension tax
- 1917: Bosboom (Minister of War): about the call for land storm year class 1908
- 1951: Stikker (Minister of Foreign Affairs): on New Guinea policy
- 1994: Hirsch Ballin (Minister of Justice):
about the deprivation of authority from the IRT policy
The motion by Stikker ( VVD) was a motion of sadness. In principle, this does not have to lead to dismissal or serious consequences, but the minister still decided to resign.
The only motion adopted was the one for Deckers in 1939. A motion of no confidence was also adopted in 1982, but this was only supported by CPN, PSP, PvdA and PPR.