Martin Bosma

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

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.

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", 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

Member of parliament

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. 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. 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.

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.

Bosma regularly argues that there is "repopulation" in the Netherlands. 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.

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

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. He attempted to become Speaker in the 2016 election, but he came fourth, obtaining sixteen votes in the first round of voting. 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. He had been re-elected the month before, and he became his party's spokesperson for the interior.

As speaker, Bosma opened meetings of the House of Representatives by reciting different poems. During the Gaza 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.

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. Later that year, Bosma's invitation to the national slavery remembrance on was withdrawn because of statements he made before becoming speaker.

Electoral history

Honours

* : Grand Cross of the Order of Civil Merit (9 April 2024)

Bibliography

* ''De schijn-élite van de valse munters'' (Prometheus, 2010).
* ''Minderheid in eigen land'' (Bibliotheca Africana Formicae, 2015).

References

External links

House of Representatives biography

Party for Freedom biography

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bosma, Martin
1964 births
Living people
20th-century Dutch journalists
21st-century Dutch journalists
21st-century Dutch male writers
21st-century Dutch non-fiction writers
Dutch campaign managers
Dutch political consultants
Dutch political journalists
Dutch speechwriters
Dutch language activists
Members of the House of Representatives (Netherlands)
Dutch MPs 2023–
Speakers of the House of Representatives (Netherlands)
Party for Freedom politicians
People from Wormerland
The New School alumni
University of Amsterdam alumni
Grand Cross of the Order of Civil Merit
Dutch MPs 2006–2010
Dutch MPs 2010–2012
Dutch MPs 2012–2017
Dutch MPs 2017–2021
Dutch MPs 2021–2023
Party for Freedom MPs