Battle for seats not yet decided: parties still haven't agreed on musical chairs in the House of Representatives

Before the new House of Representatives is installed on November 12th, the parliamentary groups must still decide where all the elected members of parliament will sit. Will they sit on the left, on the right, and more importantly, who will sit at the front or back? The seating arrangement is proving to be a complex puzzle for the parties in the House.

The basic premise is simple. The House of Representatives can be roughly divided into two parts, determined by the political leanings of the parties. Left-wing parties like GroenLinks-PvdA, SP, and the Party for the Animals sit to the left of the Speaker, while right-wing parties like PVV, JA21, and Forum for Democracy sit to the right. The CDA, on the other hand, ends up in the middle.

But just try to satisfy 15 factions in the House, because especially as a small faction you benefit from a place that is often in the picture, says one person involved.

It's therefore not easy to get all parties on the same page, as two rounds of consultations on the matter have revealed. Seven options are currently on the table, none of which have yet received the necessary unanimous support.

The major parties would ideally all like to be in one division, but that's proving far from always possible. Agreement is still lacking.

Meanwhile, 50PLUS leader Jan Struijs is calmly waiting. His party appears poised to return to the left with two seats, but on the back benches. "Whether I have to climb down 16 or 17 flights of stairs, I don't care. The difference is made on substance, and we certainly don't lack attention." An added bonus: the party will be conveniently close to the toilet, jokes the leader of the senior citizen's party.

The Party for the Animals is also quite willing to accept its current position at the back as a concession. "I think it's a bit of a waste of time; let's get to work on solutions for real problems like the climate and nature crisis," said MP Ines Kostić.

However challenging, the discussions proceeded harmoniously, including the necessary humor, the parties emphasize. A floating PVV seat at the back of the room was jokingly assigned to Geert Wilders. Such a backbench also guarantees a "dramatic walk" toward the microphone, they say.

Ultimately, it's up to the House of Representatives' chief clerk to coordinate the distribution. The parties have until Wednesday to reach an agreement.

The day after the elections, new MPs went through the so-called political car wash, as you can see in the video: