Elections for Members of the European Parliament
Elections for members of the European Parliament will take place on Thursday, 23 May. In order to stay somewhat informed, I had signed up at the time to participate in the various elections.
On the one hand, people want to give Dutch people living abroad the opportunity to participate in certain activities. On the other hand, the impression is given that this is not a major priority. Because the post, wherever it is, works laxly, I have already informed in time that I have not received anything. Post to Thailand, generally 2 weeks and back about 7 working days. Possibly there is a problem because of the Buddha days and the coronation recently.
On April 29th I emailed for the last time with the answer that shipping would be arranged again just to be sure. And indeed on May 22 the mail arrived! There is no point in returning this anymore!
There are 16 parties on the list. Some parties could join like-minded parties within the European Parliament. I have my doubts about the rest. For example list 15 of the Region & Pirate Party, never heard of it! Which of the Member States has a similar party. Wouldn't it be wiser to take a stand with fewer parties about certain important themes and tackle them. Better than showing up with a bunch of splinter parties. Only the Netherlands knows that “privilege”. Would one of the parties also dare to rigorously take the broom through this money-consuming operation? In addition to the income, a monthly fee and presentation apply. The recurring moves from Brussels to Strasbourg also cost the taxpayer a lot of unnecessary wasted money.
If I try to follow the politicians with what proposals or statements they come up with, then this should have been achieved long ago. It looks like Minister Wiebes with his Groningen gas policy. We will go as soon as possible …..etc. After 3 years nothing has happened! A disgusting proposal was next. The depreciation of the home is paid out, so no compensation, which is many times higher.
Politically you take responsibility and pay the damage. This can be recovered from Shell and others!
I am increasingly questioning whether Dutch politicians are interested in Dutch people living abroad and defending their interests.
Dear Lodewijk and others outside the Netherlands,
You should all realize that there is a big difference between what the government claims and promotes. In many cases things are arranged so that things arrive too late to object or respond. Many things are also registered indiscriminately. Judging on the individual is very common.
They want to get rid of you. You no longer perform and cost money.
You will also no longer receive all info and other important mail in your message box.
Justice, tax office. Judicial collection agency. and other services. prefer to seize with many increases.
They try to increase their own employment.
The Netherlands is a country where basic principles have disappeared. (Voting makes no sense)
Regards Anthony
Dear Lodewijk, at the end of your account you wonder whether “the NL is politically interested in NL people who live abroad and stand up for their interests.” A strange question. And here's why: in mid-March last, I submitted the statement in response to the Van Laarhoven case that “the Netherlands should take responsibility for compatriots abroad”. https://www.thailandblog.nl/lezers-inzending/lezersstelling-nederland-moet-verantwoordelijkheid-nemen-voor-landgenoten-in-buitenland/
The general tenor was that this was not necessary. “People” had left NL, had chosen to do so themselves for all kinds of reasons, and once a day with the hand, they no longer needed any further involvement from and by the NL government. The discussions in recent weeks about the well-loved theme of AOW have a different reading: the more concessions on the part of NL politics, the better, preferably in the form of euros.
Today is European elections. NL opts for its representation in the European Parliament. What all this has to do with those who chose to live in Thailand in this way escapes me. How do you mean participating from TH in NL elections for Europe to stay somewhat informed is also something that eludes me. Then take a digital subscription to a Dutch newspaper.
To start with the latter: I read the AD and the Volkskrant daily, as well as the Dutch news digitally.
Thailand does not have to be a final destination for me.
The Netherlands must learn to think internationally: introduce CO2 taxes at a European level, also impose taxes on large companies at a European level and therefore no fear that this specific company will leave the Netherlands. Really want to tackle migration problems internationally.
The Netherlands has made a good step by entering into the Hanzeverband with a number of N-European countries.
There are still too many points of interest to mention here. One has to get rid of the cosy, almost provincial thinking, sometimes almost from a "fear vision"!
Perhaps this has shed some light on the “why”.
Occasionally there is also correspondence with a Ministry and with AVAAZ
Sincerely,
Lodewijk
Agreed, but the question was: why should you, living in TH, care about European elections, and why should NL politics care about compatriots living in TH. They didn't want to interfere, did they? Does it matter to a pensionada living in TH whether there is a Hanseatic treaty, yes or no? NL plays a pioneering role in too many areas to mention here. To what extent is this cosy, or provincial? No, once you have left NL, no more comments.
It will ultimately be after the elections which course the European Union will set against the background of America with its trade war, now again Huawei (China)
To what extent will that affect the Asian countries, including Thailand.
To what extent will the baht come under pressure.
What I get directly involved in, I am critical of if you will comment
I have the same problem. For me, the post takes 1 month. The first shipment did not receive the second shipment just in time.
The embassy is no longer a polling station, but they will send your ballot paper to The Hague.
When asked why the digid system is not used, especially for foreign voters, the answer is that the electoral law does not provide for that.
Same here, we as Belgians are obliged to vote, a whole bombardment from our Embassy to register long in advance .. (strange, because it is still mandatory, why still have to register? )
And then your ballot paper will arrive on May 17, and it takes at least 8 working days to deliver mail in Belgium, usually 12, so too late, as everything is explicitly stated in the accompanying information: must arrive no later than Sunday at 14 p.m. to be valid
In order to vote validly, the letters must reach us at our personal address at least 2 weeks before the election date + the necessary time to get them to the Embassy, which in turn sends them to us.
And I don't even live somewhere in the Issaan or other remote area, but in Pattaya / Jomtien
Dear David,
if you are abroad you are NOT obliged to vote at all. That, by the way, is a valid reason not to vote. If you DO WISH to vote, while residing abroad, you must make this known by registering as a voter at the Belgian embassy. This is only possible if you have deregistered in Belgium and are registered at the embassy. If you do not wish to vote, you simply do not register as a voter and you do not receive a ballot paper. It's just what you want or don't want.
Dear Mr Lung Adie , this is new to me , I do not know , as a good Belgian , always told us that voting is compulsory , the Embassy has also never mentioned that we deregistered are not obliged to vote , maybe they do not know it either ? (wouldn't surprise me ..lol), can you show me a link where I can read that on the official site, I think it must exist, I doubt this, since we even live abroad and have been written off from Belgium, we also have to file a tax return to fill in .
But I would find it very welcome if your statement is indeed correct. One less burden.
Dear David,
the legislation on this is very vague and unclear. A Belgian indeed has a 'compulsory attendance', but if you are proven to be abroad, this is a valid reason not to show up. If you are deregistered in Belgium, there are different rules. Municipal and regional you should not participate in the elections. Federal you should and European??? Now, in case you want to participate in the federal elections then you have to register as a voter. You will receive a letter from the embassy for this, but nowhere can I find that it is MANDATORY to register. If you don't do it, you MAY/CANT not vote. I cannot find whether there are fines for not registering as a voter and legislation without sanctions is pointless.
Anyway, the registration letter, which I received, came via regular, unregistered mail, so did I receive it or not?
It is also common knowledge that, even in Belgium, there is no longer any prosecution of those who fail to vote, as the electoral lists are no longer forwarded to the public prosecutor's office. It is only those who had a task to fulfill (assessor, counter….) and do not show up who may be prosecuted.
So I wouldn't worry about it, I didn't do it during the last municipal elections and not now either. I just didn't register as a voter, so I SHOULD/COULDN'T choose and didn't receive any ballot papers.
Secondly, it is not compulsory voting in the literal sense as no one can force you to vote. It is a 'compulsory attendance' and it is difficult to enforce it when you are abroad. By the way, I do not find anything in the legislation that would require you to vote by mail or to give someone a proxy to vote in your place.
https://diplomatie.belgium.be/nl/Diensten/Diensten_in_het_buitenland/verkiezingen/verkiezingen_2019/faq
Same here with me, I have moved heaven and earth, emailed, called, emailed. All this without result.. And I can go on like this for a while. People live outside the Netherlands and you are old. So you no longer contribute to society. So you can look at it. And if you complain you get an apology? Sorry the law forbids that, sorry the privacy law forbids that and done. We have a mailbox but people are not allowed to use it. The law forbids that. Just crazy. DigidD was on the street for the taking in the Netherlands. My SVB forms can simply be sent to my mailbox, but that is not allowed. Now I can. But they'd rather it doesn't arrive than they can stop your AOW. Because you don't respond according to all those authorities in the Netherlands. It is just too sad for words. Now during the elections a number of parties show interest and promise to help. But elections are over. Let's go back to the order of the day: so nothing.
The Pirate Party is an example of an international party that reaches beyond borders! Every now and then they also appear in the Dutch media, possibly more on TV than the newspaper?
Wikipedia:
“The Pirate Party is a group of political parties active in more than 40 different countries. Pirate parties support civil rights, direct democracy, copyright and patent law reform, free knowledge sharing (free knowledge), data security, transparency, freedom of information, free education, universal health care and a clear separation of church and state.”
Thanks for this information.
Of the 20 candidates, only 2 women!
Perhaps they will profile themselves a bit more in the future!