Parliament seeks to rein in Dutch queen

RNW, 1 September 2011, by John Tyler    

  (Image: ANP/RNW)

        

The Dutch queen is said to be one of the most powerful monarchs in Europe. That might not be true of her successor if parliament gets its way. And this time the move to reform the monarchy is not only coming from parties on the left – Geert Wilders’ populist Freedom Party is proposing the most radical changes.

The Kingdom of The Netherlands is one of Europe’s ten surviving constitutional monarchies. But unlike many of her fellow European royals, Queen Beatrix does more than cut ribbons and welcome foreign heads of state graciously. She has real power. Or, at least, influence. She initiates the process of forming a government in the wake of an election – a crucial role in this country of coalitions. She meets privately every week with the prime minister and is officially both a member of the cabinet and chairs the Council of State, a powerful advisory body.

She is not shy about using her influence. But since it is taboo to reveal anything she thinks or says, it is difficult to measure the exact extent of that influence.

Historic

Bert van den Braak, a researcher at the Montesquieu Institute in The Hague, says Beatrix has been able to steer the formation of a new cabinet following elections on a number of occasions. For instance, in 1994 when she helped bring about an historic coalition that, for the first time in the 20th century, did not include any of the Christian parties.

The queen’s room to manoeuvre is limited. When there is broad agreement among the political parties she has no influence, but on other occasions she does, according to Van den Braak: "When opinion is divided fifty-fifty, then she can be the determining factor."

Frank Lammers, a retired journalist and expert on the Dutch royalty, agrees. The power of the Dutch monarch is 'soft' power, emanating from personal relations.

"The power that she has comes mostly from experience. She is has been queen for more than 30 years and has dealt with lots of ministers and has built up a wealth of experience. That is what gives her power behind the scenes."

One such behind-the-scenes incident, widely reported but never confirmed, involved the Queen’s state visit to South Africa when Nelson Mandela was president. The Dutch ambassador was having a very public extra-marital affair. Queen Beatrix is said to have exerted her influence on the foreign minister to have the ambassador transferred before the state visit. The foreign minister, as expected, denied that the transfer was at the request of the queen but she is generally believed to have been behind the government's decision.

King

Now two of the largest parties in the Dutch parliament say they want to curtail the power of the monarch. The opposition Labour Party has proposed moving the role in forming a new government from the monarch to parliament. Geert Wilders’s Freedom Party goes even further and says the monarch should no longer be a member of the government.

Time is a factor if parliament is serious about reform. Beatrix is 73-years-old and is expected to step down sooner rather than later. Crown Prince Willem-Alexander is seen as ready to assume the role of monarch and the time for reform is now, before he succeeds to the throne.

But in the end, says Van den Braak, Willem Alexander’s personality will have more effect on his role as king than whatever reform parliament manages to pass.

"The Dutch king or queen has influence, but whatever power he or she has lies in the weakness of the ministers. If the ministers allow themselves to be influenced by the king or queen, then he or she has power."

So King Willem IV may have a few more limitations on his role than his mother did, but he will probably still be king of the hill when compared with other European monarchs.