A majority in the House of Representatives wants a substantial structural increase in the salaries of healthcare workers. A motion by PVV leader Geert Wilders got 69 MPs behind him in a roll call vote; while 67 MPs voted against. ChristenUnie Member of Parliament Stieneke van der Graaf accidentally voted in favor of the motion, while she should have voted against.
If Van der Graaf had simply voted against, the result would have been 68 to 68 votes. Then the motion would not be carried out.
“A human error”, coalition member ChristenUnie calls the ‘wrong’ voting behavior of Van der Graaf, which goes against the line of the cabinet. ChristenUnie Member of Parliament Joel Voordewind pointed out during the vote that his colleague was expected to vote differently. Despite this, the motion remains passed.
Previous motions with the same tendency from the PVV and the SP have always been narrowly rejected in recent months. In addition, the hasty departure of MPs from coalition parties, in order to make a roll-call vote impossible, led to great anger.
Great news
Wilders was relieved after the vote. “This is great news,” he said. Prior to the corona debate in the House of Representatives on Wednesday, he wants a letter from the cabinet about how it intends to implement the motion.
136 of the 150 MPs were present during the votes.
