Jan Peter Balkenende
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Dr. Jan Peter Balkenende [listen] (born 7 May 1956) has served as Prime Minister of The Netherlands since 22 July, 2002. On June 30, 2006, he offered his resignation to Queen Beatrix after his coalition government lost its majority in the Dutch parliament the previous day. He formed a new cabinet, which had been installed on 7 july 2006 (see:Third Balkenende cabinet).
Life and career
Jan Peter Balkenende (legally Jan Pieter Balkenende) studied law and history at the Free University of Amsterdam.He began his career on the staff of the research institute of the political party Christen Democratisch Appèl (CDA) and as a city councillor in Amstelveen. He later became a special professor of Christian-Social Thought at the Free University of Amsterdam.
Balkenende first entered the Tweede Kamer (lower house) of the Netherlands Parliament on 19 May, 1998, while the CDA was in opposition. He became the CDA's financial spokesman and was also involved with social affairs, justice, and domestic affairs. In this role he advocated a substational reduction of the national debt and sound public finances.
He was elected chairman of the parliamentary CDA on 1 October, 2001, in succession to Jaap de Hoop Scheffer. On 3 November, 2001, he was appointed lijsttrekker for the CDA in the May 2002 parliamentary elections. These elections became historic when populist Pim Fortuyn was assassinated and the election campaign was halted. The result of the election restored the CDA's former position as the largest political party in the Dutch parliament.
On 4 July, 2002, Queen Beatrix asked Balkenende to form a new government, in the wake of the resignation of Prime Minister Wim Kok. This cabinet is known as Balkenende I. This government (including the LPF party of the murdered politician Pim Fortuyn) fell after just 86 days in office because of infighting in the LPF which destabilised the government. After early elections in 2003 Balkenende formed his second cabinet Balkenende II with the liberal VVD and the progressive liberal D66.
Again a center-right coalition. Balkenende's policies centered around reform of the Dutch public services, reducing crime, a tough immigration policy and historically large cuts in public spending. The measures gave rise to large public anger and bad results in opinion polls for his CDA party. While his party remained the largest Dutch delegation in the European Parliament after the European Elections, beating the general expectation of a huge loss in parliamentary seats, the party suffered massive losses during Dutch Municipal Elections of 2006, losing their position as the largest party in many municipalities. Despite his impopularity among Dutch voters, his position as leader of the CDA seems, as of yet, unchallenged.
On 1 July, 2004, he took up the rotating presidency of the European Union.
On 30 June, 2006, he resigned from his post as prime minister after his government lost the majority in the Dutch lower house. Former Prime Minister Ruud Lubbers was given the task for form a new cabinet until the next general elections, now planned in November 2006. The CDA and VVD wanted to form a minority but missionary cabinet in order to prepare a proper budget for 2007, a budget in which it is expected they can reap what they have sown over the past 4 years. Shorty thereafter Balkende was appointed "formateur" and established Balkenende III, retaining overall the same ministers, promoting two secretaries of state to fill the ministerial posts left vacant by former partner D66. Their respective posts were given to the ministers of the same departments. A new state secretary for education was also appointed. Elections are to be held on November 22.
Family background
Balkenende currently resides with his wife, Bianca, and his daughter Amelie in Capelle aan den IJssel. He rents an apartment in The Hague rather than inhabit the Catshuis formal residency of the Prime Minister.Trivia
Balkenende is often called "Harry Potter" by the Dutch inhabitants because of his resemblance to the storybook character. On the occasion of April Fool's Day 2003, the Dutch children's news program, Jeugdjournaal, announced that Balkenende was going to play a small role in the next Harry Potter movie as Harry's father. On 4 June, 2005, this comparison was made by Belgian Minister of Foreign Affairs Karel De Gucht in the Flemish newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws (The Latest News). This caused a small diplomatic controversy, and the Belgian ambassador had to apologise to Bernard Bot, the Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs. De Gucht stated that "Balkenende is a mix of Harry Potter and a petty rigid bourgeois mentality" (brave stijfburgerlijkheid).See also
External links
| Prime Ministers of the Netherlands |
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