King's Commissioner

King's Commissioner Commissaris van de Koning(in)
Coat of Arms
Incumbent Present King’s Commissioners: Jacques Tichelaar (Drenthe) Leen Verbeek (Flevoland) John Jorritsma (Fryslân) Clemens Cornielje (Gelderland) Max van den Berg (Groningen) Theo Bovens (Limburg) Wim van de Donk (North Brabant) Johan Remkes (North Holland) Ank Bijleveld (Overijssel) Jan Franssen (South Holland) Roel Robbertsen (Utrecht) Han Polman (Zeeland)
Appointer	Dutch Cabinet
Term length	None
Formation	Dutch Constitution 1815
Website	provincies.nl

The King’s Commissioner (Dutch: Commissaris van de Koning, abbr. to CvdK) is the head of a province in the Netherlands, who is chairman of both the Provinciale Staten (PS: the directly elected provincial parliament) and the Gedeputeerde Staten (GS: the executive branch), but has a right to vote only in the latter. When the reigning monarch is a female, the office is Queen’s Commissioner (Commissaris van de Koningin).

In the Dutch province of Limburg, the King’s Commissioner is usually called Gouverneur (“governor”), as in Belgium. Similarly, the Provinciehuis (“Province Hall”) at Maastricht is called Gouvernement (“Governor’s Residence”). This local custom arose from the particular status of the current province in the nineteenth century.

There are two levels of local government in the Netherlands: the provinces and the municipalities. The twelve provinces form the tier of administration between central government and the municipalities. The three tiers are organised in largely the same way, with a directly elected parliament, which in turn chooses the executive branch, headed by a non-democratically chosen chairman. On the national and municipal level, these are the king and the mayor, on the provincial level it is the King’s Commissioner (however the king has no political power, the “political head of state” is the Prime Minister (Minister President), similar to the United Kingdom).

Each province is governed by the Provinciale Staten (“PS”), who, in turn, choose the Gedeputeerde Staten (“GS”). The members of the PS are elected directly every four years. Its main tasks are to decide policies and to oversee their implementation by the GS. Each member of the council has a vote and decisions are taken by majority vote of the members present. Council members usually have an ordinary job and undertake their council duties in their spare time. They receive an attendance allowance. Membership in the GS is a full-time job.

Tasks of the King’s Commissioner

The King’s Commissioner is not elected by the residents of the province, but appointed by the Dutch Crown (the ministers, presided over by the monarch), for a term of six years, which may be extended by a second term. The King’s Commissioner can be dismissed only by the Dutch Crown. When a vacancy arises, the provincial council gives the Minister of the Interior a profile of the kind of candidate it would like to see in the job. Although all King’s Commissioners are prominent members of one or another of the major national political parties, their actions are expected to be politically impartial while they are in office.

The King’s Commissioners play a role within the provincial administration and are the official representatives of central government in the provinces. They coordinate disaster management and prevention and pay regular official visits to the municipalities in their region.

The King’s Commissioners play an important part in the appointment of municipal mayors. When a vacancy arises, the King’s Commissioner first asks the municipal council for its views as to a successor, then writes to the Minister of the Interior, recommending a candidate. Since the King’s Commissioners are both the chairs and full members of the provincial executives, they may include some of the executive’s tasks in their portfolio. They also oversee the official apparatus and any provincial utilities and represent the province in its dealings with business.

Netherlands

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