Aerdts keeps MPs waiting almost ten minutes, blames rain
Willemijn Aerdts (D66) kept MPs waiting almost ten minutes, and the chair of the Tweede Kamer told her that ministers must be on time.
State secretary Willemijn Aerdts (D66) arrived almost ten minutes late at the Tweede Kamer's weekly question hour (vragenuur) and was reprimanded by Kamer chair Thom van Campen.
"I expect all ministers and state secretaries to be in parliament on time when question hour takes place," an agitated Van Campen told her. Aerdts apologised to the Kamer. "I was late because of the rain," she said.
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vragenuur
The question hour is the weekly session in the Tweede Kamer (House of Representatives), the lower house of the Dutch parliament, where MPs put short oral questions to ministers and state secretaries on current affairs. Answers are brief, and the session lets MPs hold the government to account on urgent topics in public, often on the same day a matter comes up in the news.