1.
Excellency
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Excellency is an honorific style given to certain members of an organisation or state. Generally people addressed as Excellency are heads of state, heads of government, governors, ambassadors, certain ecclesiastics, royalty, and others holding equivalent rank and the FIFA President. It is sometimes misinterpreted as a title of office in itself, in reference to such an official, it takes the form His or Her Excellency, in direct address, Your Excellency, or, less formally, simply Excellency. The abbreviation HE is often used instead of His/Her Excellency, alternatively it may stand for His/Her Eminence, in most republican nations, the head of state is formally addressed as His Excellency. If a republic has a head of government, that official is often addressed as Excellency as well. If the nation is a monarchy, however, the customs may vary, in the case of Australia, all ambassadors, high commissioners, governors and the governor-general and their spouses are entitled to the use of Excellency. Governors of colonies in the British Empire were entitled to be addressed as Excellency, in various international organizations, notably the UN and its agencies, Excellency is used as a generic form of address for all republican heads of state and heads of government. Judges of the International Court of Justice are also called Your Excellency, in some monarchies the husbands, wives, or children, of a royal prince or princess, who do not possess a princely title themselves, may be entitled to the style. For example, in Spain spouses or children of a born infante or infanta are addressed as Excellency, also, former members of a royal house or family, who did have a royal title but forfeited it, may be awarded the style afterwards. Examples are former husbands or wives of a prince or princess, including Alexandra, Countess of Frederiksborg. In some emirates, only the Emir, heir apparent and prime minister are called His Highness and their children are styled with the lower treatment of His/Her Excellency. In Spain members of the nobility, holding the dignity of grandee, are addressed as The Most Excellent Lord/Lady. Some of the high ranking counts, Excellency can also attach to a prestigious quality, notably in an order of knighthood. By a decree of the Sacred Congregation of Ceremonial of 31 December 1930 the Holy See granted bishops of the Roman Catholic Church the title of Most Reverend Excellency. In the years following the First World War, the title of Excellency. The adjective Most Reverend was intended to distinguish the title from that of Excellency given to civil officials. The instruction Ut sive sollicite of the Holy Sees Secretariat of State, dated 28 March 1969, cardinals, even those who were bishops, continued to use the title of Eminence. In some English-speaking countries, the honorific of Excellency does not apply to other than the nuncio
2.
Prime Minister of the Netherlands
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He is the de facto head of government of the Netherlands and coordinates the policy of the government. The current prime minister is Mark Rutte, although he is the most important political figure in the Netherlands, the Prime Minister is not as powerful as his British and German counterparts. This is mainly because, due to the Dutch system of proportional representation, therefore, the government is always a coalition between two or more parties. Because of his powers, the prime minister is described as primus inter pares. As a result of the review of 1983, the position of Prime Minister was inscribed into the Dutch constitution for the first time. According to the constitution, the Government is constituted by the King, the constitution stipulates the Prime Minister chairs the council of ministers and is appointed by royal decree. The royal decree of their own appointment and those of the ministers are to be countersigned by the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister chairs the meetings of the council of ministers and has the power to set the agenda of these meetings. The prime minister is also Minister of General Affairs, which takes an important role in coordinating policy and is responsible for the Government Information Service, the Prime Minister is also responsible for the royal house and has a weekly meeting with the King on government policy. Informally the Prime Minister functions as the face of the cabinet to the public, after the meetings of the cabinet on Friday, the Prime Minister hosts a press conference on the decisions of the cabinet and current affairs. The Prime Minister also has functions in international affairs, attending the European Council every six months. The Prime Ministers office is a hexagon shaped tower, named The Little Tower Het Torentje on the Binnenhof in The Hague, the official residence is the Catshuis. Conventionally, the party with the largest number of seats in the Second Chamber will initiate coalition talks after elections and these negotiations are concluded by means of a so-called government agreement. He or she usually appoints her/himself Prime Minister, a minister from the smaller coalition party usually becomes Deputy Prime Minister of the cabinet. If there is a party in the coalition, one of its ministers will become the second Deputy Prime Minister. For a list of historic Prime Ministers, see List of Prime Ministers of the Netherlands, for a list of Prime Ministers by age, see List of Prime Ministers of the Netherlands by age. For a list of Prime Ministers by religious affiliations, see Religious affiliations of Prime Ministers of the Netherlands, gradually the Prime Minister became an official function of government leader, taken by the political leader of the largest party. Since 1848 the role of the first minister has become relevant, until 1901 the position chair of the council of ministers officially rotated between ministers
3.
Beatrix of the Netherlands
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Beatrix reigned as Queen of the Netherlands from 1980 until her abdication in 2013, after a reign of exactly 33 years. Beatrix is the eldest daughter of Queen Juliana and her husband, upon her mothers accession in 1948, she became heir presumptive. Beatrix attended a primary school in Canada during World War II. In 1961, she received her law degree from Leiden University, in 1966, Beatrix married Claus von Amsberg, a German diplomat, with whom she had three children. When her mother abdicated on 30 April 1980, Beatrix succeeded her as queen, on Koninginnedag,30 April 2013, Beatrix abdicated in favour of her eldest son, Willem-Alexander, and resumed the title of princess. At the time of her abdication, Beatrix was the oldest reigning monarch of the Netherlands, Beatrix was born Princess Beatrix Wilhelmina Armgard of the Netherlands, Princess of Orange-Nassau, Princess of Lippe-Biesterfeld, on 31 January 1938 at the Soestdijk Palace in Baarn, Netherlands. She is the first child of Princess Juliana of the Netherlands, Beatrix was baptized on 12 May 1938 in the Great Church in The Hague. Beatrixs middle names are the first names of her grandmother, the then reigning Queen Wilhelmina. When Beatrix was one old, in 1939, her younger sister Princess Irene was born. World War II broke out in the Netherlands on 10 May 1940, on 13 May, the Dutch Royal Family evacuated to London, United Kingdom. One month later, Beatrix went to Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, with her mother Juliana and her sister Irene, while her father Bernhard, the family lived at the Stornoway residence. With bodyguards and ladies in waiting, the family summered at Bigwin Inn on Lake of Bays, while on Bigwin Island, the constitution of the Netherlands was stored in the cast iron safe of Bigwin Inns Rotunda building. In order to them with a greater sense of security, culinary chefs. Upon their departure, the musicians of the Bigwin Inn Orchestra assembled dockside, and at every public performance afterward through to the end of World War II. In the years following the shuttering and neglect of the island resort, the second sister of Beatrix, Princess Margriet, was born in Ottawa in 1943. During their exile in Canada, Beatrix attended nursery and Rockcliffe Park Public School, on 5 May 1945, the German troops in the Netherlands surrendered. The family returned to the Netherlands on 2 August 1945, Beatrix went to the progressive primary school De Werkplaats in Bilthoven. Her third sister Princess Christina was born in 1947, in April 1950, Princess Beatrix entered the Incrementum, a part of Baarnsch Lyceum, where, in 1956, she passed her school-graduation examinations in the subjects of arts and classics
4.
Hans Dijkstal
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Henri Frans Hans Dijkstal was a Dutch politician of the Peoples Party for Freedom and Democracy. After the Dutch general election of 1994 he became Minister of the Interior, after the Dutch general election of 1998 incumbent Party leader of the Peoples Party for Freedom and Democracy Frits Bolkestein announced his retirement and Dijkstal was elected his successor. Fortuyn blamed the problems in the country on the Purple cabinets, Fortuyn depicted Dijkstal and Melkert as two bureaucrats who didnt understand the feelings and problems among the population. After a heated campaign a mere days before the election, Fortuyn was assassinated in Hilversum, the Peoples Party for Freedom and Democracy suffered a big defeat in the election losing fourteen seats, Dijkstal accepted responsibility for the defeat and sequentially left national politics. Dijkstal was born in Port Said, Egypt, where his father and grandfather worked in shipping and he was able to speak fluent Arabic before moving to the Netherlands at age five. He made a career as advisor, taught management courses, and was council member for the city of Wassenaar. In 1982 he was first elected to the House of Representatives and he took over the leadership of the VVD faction from Frits Bolkestein in 1998. Dijkstal was the lijsttrekker for the VVD party in the 2002 parliamentary elections, afterwards, he retired from active politics. On 29 July 1966 he married Anneke Dijkstal and became the father of two daughters, furthermore, he was a fan and admirer of Star Trek. Hans Dijkstal died on 9 May 2010 after a fight against bone cancer. Official H. F. Dijkstal Parlement & Politiek
5.
Hans van Mierlo
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Henricus Antonius Franciscus Maria Oliva Hans van Mierlo was a Dutch politician of the Democrats 66 party. Van Mierlo a journalist by occupation, worked for the NRC Handelsblad as an editor from 1960 until 1967. In 1966 Van Mierlo together with Hans Gruijters founded the Democrats 66 party after continuing frustrations with the The Establishment parties, Van Mierlo was selected as Leader and Chairman of the Democrats 66 on 14 October 1966. Van Mierlo was elected as a Member of the House of Representatives, for the Dutch general elections of 1971 Van Mierlo again as Lijsttrekker won eleven seats. Hans Gruijters became Minister of Housing and Spatial Planning, because of the disappointing election results Van Mierlo resigned as Parliamentary leader of the Democrats 66 in the House of Representatives and Leader of the Democrats 66 on 1 September 1973. Van Mierlo remained a Member of the House of Representatives until after the Dutch general election of 1977 on 8 June 1977, after the Dutch Senate election of 1983 Van Mierlo was elected as a Member of the Senate serving from 13 September 1983 until 4 June 1986. In 1986 Van Mierlo staged a comeback and was re-elected as the Leader of the Democrats 66 on 25 January 1986. For the Dutch general election of 1986 Van Mierlo back as Lijsttrekker won nine seats, for the Dutch general election of 1989 Van Mierlo again as Lijsttrekker won twelve seats. For the Dutch general election of 1994 Van Mierlo for the time as Lijsttrekker won twenty four seats. The Cabinet Kok I was considered groundbreaking in Dutch politics because it was the first Cabinet of the Netherlands since 1908 without a Christian democratic party, on 7 March 1997 Van Mierlo announced his retirement as Leader of the Democrats 66. Van Mierlo remained Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs until the Cabinet Kok II was installed on 3 August 1998, for the Dutch general election of 1998 Van Mierlo was re-elected to the House of Representatives on 19 May 1998 but resigned on 18 August 1998. Van Mierlo semi-retired from active politics on his sixty-seventh birthday and he served as the first Dutch representative to the Convention on the Future of Europe from 1 March 2002 until 26 September 2002. Following the end of his political career, Van Mierlo occupied numerous seats on supervisory boards on cultural organizations. Van Mierlo was known for his abilities as a leader, consensus builder. On 24 October 1998, he was granted the title of Minister of State. After receiving his diploma Gymnasium-A at the Canisius College in Nijmegen he studied at the Radboud University Nijmegen, where he received a Bachelor of Laws and Master of Laws degree in 1960. After graduating, he became a journalist for the NRC Handelsblad and worked as an editor from 1960 until 1967, first as an editor Home Affairs. In 1966 he co-founded the social liberal Democrats 66 and he was a Member of the House of Representatives from February 23,1967 until June 8,1977
6.
Annemarie Jorritsma
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Annemarie Jorritsma-Lebbink is a Dutch politician of the Peoples Party for Freedom and Democracy. She was Mayor of Almere from 16 August 2003 till August 2015, since 9 June 2015, she has been a member of the Senate. Since 24 November 2015, she has also been Senate group leader, order of Orange-Nassau Officer Parlement. com biography
7.
Els Borst
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Else Els Borst-Eilers was a Dutch politician of the Democrats 66 party. She served as Minister of Health, Welfare and Sport from 22 August 1994 until 22 July 2002 in the Cabinets Kok I, Borst also served as Deputy Prime Minister from 3 August 1998 until 22 July 2002 in the Second purple cabinet. For the Dutch general election of 1998 she was the Lijsttrekker, Borst attended the Barlaeus Gymnasium of Amsterdam graduating in 1950. The same school was attended by Peoples Party for Freedom and Democracy leader Frits Bolkestein, between 1950 and 1958, she followed a medical education at the University of Amsterdam where she obtained her medical degree in 1958. Subsequently, Borst worked as a resident physician at the hospital Onze Lieve Vrouwe Gasthuis in Amsterdam where she specialized in pediatric medicine, in 1965 Borst started writing her doctoral thesis, while working as a medical scientist at Utrecht University, researching immunohaematology. In 1972 she received her Doctor of Philosophy degree at the University of Amsterdam following research on the development, in 1969 she was the head of the Bloodbank of the University Hospital of Utrecht, and in 1976 she became medical director of that hospital. In 1986 she left this position to become vice-chair of the Health Council, in the Health Council she chaired the committees on immunisation, genetics and medical ethics. Borst held several positions in the medical world, she was chairperson of the College for Blood Transfusion as well as of the Committee on Research in Medical Ethics. In 1968 she joined the Democrats 66, and was active as a rank-and-file member, in 1994 Borst became minister of Health for the Democrats 66 in the First cabinet of Wim Kok. As a minister, Borst was known for two things, for introducing legislation in medical ethics and for her attempts to reform the medical system to better cope with the aging population. The law is considered her most important contribution in politics, in 1996 she implemented the law on organ donation. As a result of the law, all Dutch citizens are asked whether they wanted to become organ donor when they are 18 years old. In 2002 she gave permission to the Women on Waves group to offer pregnant women the abortion pill on board their boat and she also defended the Dutch system of soft drugs. She faced political problems preparing the Dutch medical system for the aging of the population, an important part of her reforms of the medical system was to integrate the health insurance system, achieving that all citizens would pay the same amount for the same coverage. Although her ministrys budget was increased during this period, she still had to limit the budgets of the hospitals. This led to a problem of long waiting lists for simple medical procedures, from both the political left and the political right she was criticized for what was seen as her mismanagement of the medical system. In the 1998 elections Borst succeeded Hans van Mierlo as Lijsttrekker for the Democrats 66 and she was parachuted by the partys leadership in a press-conference where Van Mierlo announced her candidacy with the words, Its a girl, and we call her Els. Words which were similar to those that use to announce the birth of their new born child
8.
Ruud Lubbers
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Rudolphus Franciscus Marie Ruud Lubbers is a retired Dutch politician and diplomat of the Christian Democratic Appeal. He served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 4 November 1982 until 22 August 1994, Lubbers, a businessman and economist by occupation, worked for the Hollandia Corporate as a corporate director from 1963 until 1973. After the Dutch general election of 1972, Lubbers was asked by the Catholic Peoples Party to become Minister of Economic Affairs in the Cabinet Den Uyl, he accepted, taking office on 11 May 1973. After the 1977 election, he was elected as Member of the House of Representatives, serving from 8 June 1977 until 8 September 1977 and again from 22 December 1977 until 4 November 1982. The first Lubbers cabinet was formed by a coalition with the Peoples Party for Freedom and Democracy, on 29 January 1994, Lubbers announced his retirement from national politics and resigned as Leader of the Christian Democratic Appeal. Lubbers remained Prime Minister until the first Kok cabinet was installed on 22 August 1994, Lubbers served as the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees from 1 January 2001 until 20 February 2005, and finally retired from active politics at the age of sixty-five. Following the end of his political career, Lubbers occupied numerous seats on supervisory boards on international non-governmental organizations. Lubbers is known for his abilities as a leader and consensus builder. He holds the distinction of being both the longest-tenured and the youngest serving Prime Minister of the Netherlands, Lubbers also has been active as a conservation and humanitarian activist and as an advocate in promoting sustainable development. Lubbers continues to comment on political affairs as a statesman, on 31 January 1995, he was granted the honorary title of Minister of State. Rudolphus Franciscus Marie Lubbers was born on 7 May 1939 in Rotterdam in the Province of South Holland and he studied economics at the Erasmus University Rotterdam, and was a student of the first Nobel Prize in Economics laureate Jan Tinbergen. He originally planned a career, but was compelled by family circumstances to join the management of Lubbers Construction Workshops. From 11 May 1973 to 19 December 1977, Ruud Lubbers was Minister of Economic Affairs in the Den Uyl-government and he was an effective, if sometimes somewhat bad-tempered minister. Lubbers succeeded him and suddenly found himself in a political position. In 1982, after the election won by Prime Minister Dries van Agt. He was the youngest prime minister in Dutch history, he had turned 43 only six months earlier, after leaving office in 1994, Lubbers was put forward as a candidate for the head of NATO, but the US vetoed his appointment. He is on the board of the Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum. Lubbers was regarded by many during his time in office as an heir to Margaret Thatcher
9.
Jan Peter Balkenende
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Jan Pieter Jan Peter Balkenende, Jr. is a Dutch politician of the Christian Democratic Appeal. He served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 22 July 2002 until 14 October 2010, Balkenende, a jurist by occupation, worked for the Academic Council and the Christian Democratic Appeal Think tank from 1982 until 1998. Balkenende became a professor of Christian theology at the VU University Amsterdam in 1993 and he was elected as a Member of the House of Representatives after the Dutch general election of 1998, serving from 19 May 1998 until 22 July 2002. The Christian Democratic Appeal became the winner of the election. The Cabinet Balkenende I collapsed on 16 October after just 87 days in office after internal conflicts within the Pim Fortuyn List that destabilized the government, on 7 July 2006 a rump cabinet Balkenende III was formed and stayed in office until the Dutch general election of 2006. Balkenende again as Lijsttrekker lost three seats but the Christian Democratic Appeal remained by far the largest party with 41 seats, the following cabinet formation resulted in a coalition agreement with the Christian Democratic Appeal, the Labour Party and the ChristianUnion that formed the Cabinet Balkenende IV. On 20 February 2010 the Labour Party retracted their support for the Cabinet Balkenende IV after a disagreement over the extension of the ISAF mission in Afghanistan, Balkenende remained Prime Minister of the Netherlands until the Cabinet Rutte I was installed on 14 October 2010. During his childhood, Balkenende was a supporter of the Dutch football team PSV Eindhoven. He also regularly visited the music school and theatre. Balkenende went to a Reformed Protestant primary school in Kapelle and he attended secondary school at the Christian Lyceum for Zeeland in Goes, graduating in 1974. Balkenende resides with his wife, Bianca Hoogendijk, and his daughter, Amelie, in Capelle aan den IJssel, during his tenure as Prime Minister, he did not use the Catshuis, the formal residency of the Prime Minister. He began his career on the staff of the institute of the CDA. In 1992 he received his PhD with a thesis on Governance regulation and social organisations, one year later in 1993, he became an extraordinary professor of Christian-Social Thought at the Free University of Amsterdam. Balkenende first entered the House of Representatives on 19 May 1998 while the CDA was in opposition and he became the CDAs financial spokesman and was also involved with social affairs, justice, and domestic affairs. In this role he advocated a reduction of the national debt. He was elected Chairman of the CDA parliamentary fraction on 1 October 2001, on 3 November 2001, he was appointed lijsttrekker for the CDA in the tumultuous May 2002 parliamentary elections. These elections restored the CDAs former position as the largest political party in the Dutch parliament, Balkenende has been prime minister of four successive cabinets. On 4 July 2002 Queen Beatrix asked Balkenende to form a new government after the elections following the resignation of Prime Minister Wim Kok
10.
Deputy Prime Minister of the Netherlands
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The Vice Minister-President of the Netherlands, commonly referred to in English as the Deputy Prime Minister, is the official Deputy of the Head of Government of the Netherlands. Conventionally, all of the partners in the coalition get one deputy. They are ranked according to the size of their respective parties, incumbent Lodewijk Asscher is the sixth Deputy Prime Minister of the Labour Party. Official Deputy Prime Minister of the Netherlands Government of the Netherlands
11.
Onno Ruding
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Herman Onno Christiaan Rudolf Ruding is a former Dutch banker and politician. He is a member of the Christian Democratic Appeal, from 1977 till 1980 Ruding was executive director of the International Monetary Fund. He was Minister of Finance from 1982 till 1989 and known for his budget cuts
12.
Gerrit Zalm
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Gerrit Zalm is a Dutch banker and former politician of the Peoples Party for Freedom and Democracy. He served as Minister of Finance and Deputy Prime Minister from 27 May 2003 until 22 February 2007 in the Cabinets Balkenende II and III and he served earlier as Minister of Finance in the Cabinets Kok I and II from 22 August 1994 until 22 July 2002. He served in this position for a year before becoming Minister of Finance. He was the longest serving Minister of Finance in the History of the Netherlands and has been responsible for reforms of the Economy of the Netherlands. Zalm retired from politics after the completion of the term of the Cabinet Balkenende III and he served as chief economist, then CFO, of DSB Bank in 2007–2008, and transferred to the newly nationalized ABN AMRO to become its CEO in February 2009. Following his graduation from school in Enkhuizen, Zalm began a study in economics at the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam. In the same year he joined the Ministry of Finance, from 1983 he worked for the Ministry of Economic Affairs, where he eventually became a director. In 1988 he was appointed deputy director of the Centraal Planbureau, in 1989 he became director of this institute. In that capacity Zalm had, although not formally a politician, from 1990 he also gave lectures at the Vrije Universiteit. Between 22 August 1994 and 22 July 2002, Zalm, member of the liberal party Peoples Party for Freedom and Democracy, was Minister of Finance in the first. On 27 May 2003 he started his term as Minister of Finance, in the second Balkenende administration. On 30 June 2006, he succeeded Laurens Jan Brinkhorst as Minister of Economic Affairs, ad interim, on 7 July 2006 Joop Wijn was appointed as the new Minister of Economic Affairs. On 26 November 2006, Zalm announced in the Sunday morning talk show Buitenhof that he would step down from politics and would probably seek employment in the private sector. He initially held the position of chief economist, but quickly became CFO of the bank after the Dutch central bank DNB had threatened to curtail DSBs financial autonomy. This new position came under scrutiny after Zalms previous employer DSB went bankrupt in 2009, Zalm is a fan of Pinball and during his second term as Minister of Finance he had a pinball machine in his department. He is a member of the Dutch Pinball Association. In 2004 he had a Cameo appearance in the movie Cool of Theo van Gogh, Netherlands Order of Oranje-Nassau Officer Commander Dr. G. Zalm
13.
Leader of the Labour Party (Netherlands)
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The Leader of the Labour Party is the most senior politician within the Labour Party in the Netherlands. The post is held by Lodewijk Asscher, who succeeded Diederik Samsom after the leadership election of 2016. The Leaders outwardly act as the figurehead and the representative of the party. Within the party, they must ensure political consensus, at election time the Leader is always the Lijsttrekker of the party list. Outside election time the Leader can serves as the Opposition leader, in the Labour Party the Leader is often the Parliamentary leader in the House of Representatives. Some Labour Party leaders became a Minister in a Cabinet
14.
Joop den Uyl
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Johannes Marten den Uijl, known as Joop den Uyl was a Dutch politician of the Labour Party. He served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 11 May 1973 until 19 December 1977, Den Uyl previously served as a Member of the House of Representatives from 6 November 1956 until 5 June 1963. He became Minister of Economic Affairs from 14 April 1965 until 22 November 1966 in the Cabinet Cals, Den Uyl became Prime Minister of the Netherlands, leading the Cabinet Den Uyl. He served as a Member of the House of Representatives for the last time from 16 September 1982 until his death on 24 December 1987 and he was seen as an idealistic, but also polarizing politician. Throughout history, Dutch political leaders have tended to soothing manners - Den Uyl was one of a few exceptions. People either loved him or hated him, followers of his idealistic policies called him Ome Joop. He was criticized for creating a deficit and polarizing Dutch politics. Associated with Den Uyl was the maakbare samenleving, another idea associated with Den Uyl was de verbeelding aan de macht. Johannes Marten den Uijl was born on 9 August 1919 in the town of Hilversum and he was born in a Calvinist reformed family. His father, Johannes den Uyl, was a shopkeeper and a basketweaver who died when Den Uyl was only 10, Den Uyl attended the Christian Lyceum in Hilversum from 1931 to 1936. Following this he studied economics at the University of Amsterdam, during this period in his life he left the church. In 1942 he attained the doctorandus degree, until 1945 he was a civil servant at the National Bureau for Prices of Chemical Products, part of the Ministry of Economic Affairs. During that period he was part of the newspaper group that published the clandestine Het Parool. After the Second World War he worked for Het Parool, Vrij Nederland, from January 1949 to 1963 he was head of the Wiardi Beckman Stichting, the think tank of the Partij van de Arbeid. In 1953, at the invitation of the American government, Den Uyl stayed for a few months in the United States, in 1953 Den Uyl was elected to the city council of Amsterdam and in 1956 he was elected to the House of Representatives. In 1963 he became administrator for economic affairs in Amsterdam. He resigned that post in 1965 to become minister of economic affairs in the Cals administration, as the responsible minister, he decided to close the uneconomic coal mines of Limburg, causing high local unemployment. Following the parliamentary elections of 1967, he became leader of the Labour Party in parliament, Den Uyls Labour Party won the 1973 elections in alliance with the progressive liberal Democrats 66 and radical Christian Political Party of Radicals, but failed to achieve a majority in parliament
15.
Ad Melkert
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Adrianus Petrus Wilhelmus Ad Melkert is a Dutch politician and diplomat of the Labour Party. He was elected the official Party leader of the Labour Party on 15 December 2001, Fortuyn blamed the problems in the country on the Purple cabinets and depicted Melkert and Dijkstal as two bureaucrats who were out of touch with the voters concerns. During the election Fortuyn accused Melkert of the demonization of his character, after a heated campaign Fortuyn was assassinated in Hilversum a mere nine days before polling day. After Fortuyns assassination Melkert received death threats and sequentially left national politics, following his career in Dutch politics, he worked at the World Bank and the United Nations. Adrianus Petrus Wilhelmus Melkert was born into a Roman Catholic middle-class family in Gouderak, Melkert attended a Roman Catholic primary school in Moordrecht until 1968, after which he continued his studies at the Coornhert Gymnasium in Gouda, a state school specialising in the arts. In the final year of his education, he worked for a greengrocer at the local market. Melkert graduated in 1974 and went on to political science at the University of Amsterdam. In 1979 he was elected into the party board of the PPR and he graduated in 1981 and received the Dutch Society for International Relations prize for best Masters thesis of 1981, the subject of which dealt with the foreign policy of the Den Uyl cabinet. In 1981 he became secretary of the youth forum of the European Community in Brussels. In this capacity he attended a youth conference in Chile. Meanwhile, tensions within the PPR had escalated, Melkert was a member of the so-called, Blues or Godebald group of radicals, which favoured closer cooperation with the social-democrat Labour Party and the social-liberal Democrats 66 party. The conflict came to an end in 1981, many Blues, including Melkert, left the PPR for the PvdA. In 1984 he became director of affairs at Oxfam Novib, the Dutch branch of Oxfam. He also became a member of the board of the local PvdA branch, in 1986 he published a book on international development in the Netherlands titled, The Next Minister, Development Cooperation with the Cabinet,1965 –19. In 1996 Ad Melkert was elected into the House of Representatives, in the early years he was the partys spokesperson on foreign affairs, development cooperation and environmental affairs. After the 1989 elections he took the post of spokesperson of the PvdA. Between 1990 and 1994 he was vice-chairman of the committee on finance. As an MP, Melkert also participated in several boards of civil society organisations, furthermore, he had a column in the local newspaper, Gooi- en Eemlander, which covered Hilversum and the Almere region
16.
Labour Party (Netherlands)
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The Labour Party is a social-democratic political party in the Netherlands. The party was founded in 1946 as a merger of the Social Democratic Workers Party, the Free-thinking Democratic League, Prime Ministers from the Labour Party have been Willem Drees, Joop den Uyl, and Wim Kok. Since 2012, the PvdA is the partner in the Second Rutte cabinet with the Peoples Party for Freedom. Since 2016, Lodewijk Asscher has been Leader of the Labour Party, the party won 9 seats in the House of Representatives in the 2017 general election. The Labour Party is a member of the European Party of European Socialists, in the European Parliament, where the Labour Party has 3 seats, it is part of the parliamentary group Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats. They were joined by individuals from Catholic resistance group Christofoor and the Protestant parties Christian Historical Union, the founders of the PvdA wanted to create a broad party, breaking with the historic tradition of Pillarisation. This desire to come to a new system was called the Doorbraak. The party combined socialists with liberal democrats and progressive Christians, however, the party was unable to break Pillarisation. Instead the new party renewed the ties that SDAP had with other socialist organisations. In 1948 some conservative members, led by former VDB leader Pieter Oud, together with the Freedom Party, they formed the Peoples Party for Freedom and Democracy, a conservative-liberal party. Between 1946 and 1958, the PvdA formed coalition governments with the Catholic Peoples Party, the KVP and the PvdA together had a large majority in parliament. Since 1948, these cabinets were led by PvdA Prime Minister Willem Drees, under his leadership the Netherlands recovered from the war, began to build its welfare state and Indonesia became independent. After the cabinet crisis of 1958, the PvdA was replaced by the VVD, the PvdA was in opposition until 1965. The electoral support of PvdA voters began to decline, in 1965 a conflict in the KVP-ARP-CHU-VVD cabinet made continuation of the government impossible. The three confessional, Christian-influenced parties turned towards the PvdA, together they formed the Cals cabinet. This cabinet was also lived and conflict ridden. The conflicts culminated in the fall of the Cals cabinet over economic policy, meanwhile, a younger generation was attempting to gain control of the PvdA. A group of young PvdA members, calling themselves the New Left, prominent New Left members were Jan Nagel, André van der Louw and Bram Peper
17.
House of Representatives (Netherlands)
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The House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral parliament of the Netherlands, the States General, the other one being the Senate. It has 150 seats which are filled through elections using a party-list proportional representation and it sits in the Binnenhof in The Hague. Although this body is called the House of Representatives in English, this is not a translation of its Dutch name. Rather than representatives, members of the House are referred to as Tweede Kamerlid, the House of Representatives is the main chamber of parliament, where discussion of proposed legislation and review of the actions of the cabinet takes place. Both the Cabinet and the House of Representatives itself have the right to propose legislation, review of the actions of the cabinet takes the form of formal interrogations, which may result in motions urging the cabinet to take, or refrain from, certain actions. No individual may be a member of parliament and cabinet, except in a caretaker cabinet that has not yet been succeeded when a new House is sworn in. The House of Representatives is also responsible for the first round of selection for judges to the Supreme Court of the Netherlands and it submits a list of three names for every vacant position to the Government. Furthermore, it elects the Dutch Ombudsman and his subsidiaries, the normal term of the House of Representatives is four years. Anybody eligible to vote in the Netherlands also has the right to establish a political party, parties wanting to take part must register 43 days before the elections, supplying a nationwide list of at most 50 candidates. The candidate lists are placed in the hands of the voters at least 14 days before the election, each candidate list is numbered, with the person in the first position known as the lijsttrekker. The lijsttrekker is usually appointed by the party to lead its election campaign, two or more parties can agree to combine their separate lists, which increases the chance of winning a remainder seat. Only large parties usually have some regional candidates at the bottom of their lists, a single vote can be placed on any one candidate. Many voters select one of the lijsttrekkers, but alternatively a preference vote may be made for a lower down the list. Once the election results are known, the seats are allocated to the parties, the number of valid national votes cast is divided by 150, the number of seats available, to give a threshold for each seat, 1/150th is approximately 0. 67% of the valid votes. Each partys number of votes is divided by this threshold to give a number of seats. Any party that received fewer votes than the threshold fails to gain representation in the House of Representatives, the threshold is one of the lowest for national parliaments in the world, and there are usually multiple parties winning seats with 2% or less of the vote. Any party that received more than 75% of the threshold will have its deposit refunded, after the initial seats are allocated, the remainder seats are allocated using the DHondt method of largest averages. This system slightly favours the larger parties, list combinations compete for the remainder seats as one list of the combined size of all parties in the combination, thus having more chance to gain remainder seats
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Jacques Wallage
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Jacques Wallage is a Dutch politician of Jewish descent. He was Mayor of the city of Groningen from 1 October 1998 until 25 June 2009, jacques Wallage started his political career as a member of the Groningen city council, and later on as alderman in the same city. Between 1981 and 1989 he was member of parliament for the PvdA and he was appointed staatssecretaris of Education and Science in 1989 in the third cabinet of Ruud Lubbers. Wallage became staatssecretaris for a time in 1993 after the resignation of Elske ter Veld. Wallage served as campaignleader for the PvdA in the preceding the 1994 elections for the Dutch House of Representatives. During this time, he dissuaded the PvdA leader at that time, Wim Kok, from 1994 to 1998 Wallage was head of the PvdA in the House of Representatives. Despite his re-election in 1998 he accepted the job as mayor of Groningen and he was succeeded by Ad Melkert as head of the PvdA-fraction
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Bergambacht
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Bergambacht is a village and former municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. Since 2015 it has been a part of the municipality of Krimpenerwaard, the former municipality covered an area of 38.06 km2 of which 2.96 km2 was water, and had a population of 10,016 as of 2014. The former municipality included the communities of Ammerstol and Berkenwoude, which were separate municipalities until they merged with Bergambacht in 1985, topographic map of the former municipality of Bergambacht,2013
20.
Netherlands
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The Netherlands, also informally known as Holland is the main constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is a densely populated country located in Western Europe with three territories in the Caribbean. The European part of the Netherlands borders Germany to the east, Belgium to the south, and the North Sea to the northwest, sharing borders with Belgium, the United Kingdom. The three largest cities in the Netherlands are Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague, Amsterdam is the countrys capital, while The Hague holds the Dutch seat of parliament and government. The port of Rotterdam is the worlds largest port outside East-Asia, the name Holland is used informally to refer to the whole of the country of the Netherlands. Netherlands literally means lower countries, influenced by its low land and flat geography, most of the areas below sea level are artificial. Since the late 16th century, large areas have been reclaimed from the sea and lakes, with a population density of 412 people per km2 –507 if water is excluded – the Netherlands is classified as a very densely populated country. Only Bangladesh, South Korea, and Taiwan have both a population and higher population density. Nevertheless, the Netherlands is the worlds second-largest exporter of food and agricultural products and this is partly due to the fertility of the soil and the mild climate. In 2001, it became the worlds first country to legalise same-sex marriage, the Netherlands is a founding member of the EU, Eurozone, G-10, NATO, OECD and WTO, as well as being a part of the Schengen Area and the trilateral Benelux Union. The first four are situated in The Hague, as is the EUs criminal intelligence agency Europol and this has led to the city being dubbed the worlds legal capital. The country also ranks second highest in the worlds 2016 Press Freedom Index, the Netherlands has a market-based mixed economy, ranking 17th of 177 countries according to the Index of Economic Freedom. It had the thirteenth-highest per capita income in the world in 2013 according to the International Monetary Fund, in 2013, the United Nations World Happiness Report ranked the Netherlands as the seventh-happiest country in the world, reflecting its high quality of life. The Netherlands also ranks joint second highest in the Inequality-adjusted Human Development Index, the region called Low Countries and the country of the Netherlands have the same toponymy. Place names with Neder, Nieder, Nether and Nedre and Bas or Inferior are in use in all over Europe. They are sometimes used in a relation to a higher ground that consecutively is indicated as Upper, Boven, Oben. In the case of the Low Countries / the Netherlands the geographical location of the region has been more or less downstream. The geographical location of the region, however, changed over time tremendously
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Amsterdam
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Amsterdam is the capital and most populous municipality of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Its status as the capital is mandated by the Constitution of the Netherlands, although it is not the seat of the government, which is The Hague. Amsterdam has a population of 851,373 within the city proper,1,351,587 in the urban area, the city is located in the province of North Holland in the west of the country. The metropolitan area comprises much of the part of the Randstad, one of the larger conurbations in Europe. Amsterdams name derives from Amstelredamme, indicative of the citys origin around a dam in the river Amstel, during that time, the city was the leading centre for finance and diamonds. In the 19th and 20th centuries the city expanded, and many new neighborhoods and suburbs were planned, the 17th-century canals of Amsterdam and the 19–20th century Defence Line of Amsterdam are on the UNESCO World Heritage List. As the commercial capital of the Netherlands and one of the top financial centres in Europe, Amsterdam is considered a world city by the Globalization. The city is also the capital of the Netherlands. Many large Dutch institutions have their headquarters there, and seven of the worlds 500 largest companies, including Philips and ING, are based in the city. In 2012, Amsterdam was ranked the second best city to live in by the Economist Intelligence Unit and 12th globally on quality of living for environment, the city was ranked 3rd in innovation by Australian innovation agency 2thinknow in their Innovation Cities Index 2009. The Amsterdam seaport to this day remains the second in the country, famous Amsterdam residents include the diarist Anne Frank, artists Rembrandt van Rijn and Vincent van Gogh, and philosopher Baruch Spinoza. The Amsterdam Stock Exchange, the oldest stock exchange in the world, is located in the city center. After the floods of 1170 and 1173, locals near the river Amstel built a bridge over the river, the earliest recorded use of that name is in a document dated October 27,1275, which exempted inhabitants of the village from paying bridge tolls to Count Floris V. This allowed the inhabitants of the village of Aemstelredamme to travel freely through the County of Holland, paying no tolls at bridges, locks, the certificate describes the inhabitants as homines manentes apud Amestelledamme. By 1327, the name had developed into Aemsterdam, Amsterdam is much younger than Dutch cities such as Nijmegen, Rotterdam, and Utrecht. In October 2008, historical geographer Chris de Bont suggested that the land around Amsterdam was being reclaimed as early as the late 10th century. This does not necessarily mean there was already a settlement then, since reclamation of land may not have been for farming—it may have been for peat. Amsterdam was granted city rights in either 1300 or 1306, from the 14th century on, Amsterdam flourished, largely from trade with the Hanseatic League
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Alma mater
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Alma mater is an allegorical Latin phrase for a university or college. In modern usage, it is a school or university which an individual has attended, the phrase is variously translated as nourishing mother, nursing mother, or fostering mother, suggesting that a school provides intellectual nourishment to its students. Before its modern usage, Alma mater was a title in Latin for various mother goddesses, especially Ceres or Cybele. The source of its current use is the motto, Alma Mater Studiorum, of the oldest university in continuous operation in the Western world and it is related to the term alumnus, denoting a university graduate, which literally means a nursling or one who is nourished. The phrase can also denote a song or hymn associated with a school, although alma was a common epithet for Ceres, Cybele, Venus, and other mother goddesses, it was not frequently used in conjunction with mater in classical Latin. Alma Redemptoris Mater is a well-known 11th century antiphon devoted to Mary, the earliest documented English use of the term to refer to a university is in 1600, when University of Cambridge printer John Legate began using an emblem for the universitys press. In English etymological reference works, the first university-related usage is often cited in 1710, many historic European universities have adopted Alma Mater as part of the Latin translation of their official name. The University of Bologna Latin name, Alma Mater Studiorum, refers to its status as the oldest continuously operating university in the world. At least one, the Alma Mater Europaea in Salzburg, Austria, the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, has been called the Alma Mater of the Nation because of its ties to the founding of the United States. At Queens University in Kingston, Ontario, and the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, British Columbia, the ancient Roman world had many statues of the Alma Mater, some still extant. Modern sculptures are found in prominent locations on several American university campuses, outside the United States, there is an Alma Mater sculpture on the steps of the monumental entrance to the Universidad de La Habana, in Havana, Cuba. Media related to Alma mater at Wikimedia Commons The dictionary definition of alma mater at Wiktionary Alma Mater Europaea website
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Nyenrode Business University
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Nyenrode Business Universiteit, formerly spelled as Nijenrode, is a Dutch business school and one of four private universities in the Netherlands. Founded in 1946, it is located on an estate in the town of Breukelen, between Amsterdam and Utrecht. Executive Education programs, The full-time and part-time MBA programs include a module at Northwestern Universitys Kellogg School of Management near Chicago. Nyenrode was cofounder of the China Europe International Business School, nyenrodes international MBA program attracts students from all around the world. Nyenrode has a process that involves taking a Graduate Management Admissions Test. The students attending Nyenrode are of diverse nationalities, therefore most teaching is in English, in the Financial Times Ranking for European Business Schools, Nyenrode was given an overall position of 35th. In the Financial Times Ranking for executive education programs Nyenrode achieved 48th place for open programmes, the Masters in Management MSc was given an overall position of 64th on the Financial Times Global Ranking for Masters in Management. Nieuwe Compagnie van Verre Voortgezette Compagnie van Verre
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Trade union
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The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with employers. The most common purpose of these associations or unions is maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment and this may include the negotiation of wages, work rules, complaint procedures, rules governing hiring, firing and promotion of workers, benefits, workplace safety and policies. Unions may organize a section of skilled workers, a cross-section of workers from various trades. The agreements negotiated by a union are binding on the rank and file members, originating in Great Britain, trade unions became popular in many countries during the Industrial Revolution. Trade unions may be composed of workers, professionals, past workers, students. Trade union density, or the percentage of workers belonging to a union, is highest in the Nordic countries. The trade unions aim at nothing less than to prevent the reduction of wages below the level that is maintained in the various branches of industry. That is to say, they wish to prevent the price of labour-power from falling below its value, yet historian R. A. the other the aggressive-expansionist drive to unite all labouring men and women for a different order of things. The 18th century economist Adam Smith noted the imbalance in the rights of workers in regards to owners. In The Wealth of Nations, Book I, chapter 8, Smith wrote, We rarely hear, it has said, of the combination of masters. But whoever imagines, upon this account, that masters rarely combine, is as ignorant of the world as of the subject. Masters are always and everywhere in a sort of tacit, but constant and uniform combination, not to raise the wages of labor above their actual rate When workers combine, masters. As Smith noted, unions were illegal for many years in most countries, there were severe penalties for attempting to organize unions, up to and including execution. This pool of unskilled and semi-skilled labour spontaneously organized in fits and starts throughout its beginnings, Trade unions and collective bargaining were outlawed from no later than the middle of the 14th century when the Ordinance of Labourers was enacted in the Kingdom of England. In 1799, the Combination Act was passed, which banned trade unions, although the unions were subject to often severe repression until 1824, they were already widespread in cities such as London. Sympathy for the plight of the workers brought repeal of the acts in 1824, by the 1810s, the first labour organizations to bring together workers of divergent occupations were formed. Possibly the first such union was the General Union of Trades, also known as the Philanthropic Society, the latter name was to hide the organizations real purpose in a time when trade unions were still illegal. The Association quickly enrolled approximately 150 unions, consisting mostly of textile related unions, but also including mechanics, blacksmiths, and various others
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Board of directors
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A board of directors is a body of elected or appointed members who jointly oversee the activities of a corporation or organization, which can include a non-profit organization or a government agency. A board of directors activities are determined by the powers, duties and responsibilities conferred on it by an authority outside itself and these matters are typically detailed in regulations or in the organizations constitution and bylaws. These authorities may specify the number of members of the board, how they are to be chosen, and how often they are to meet. In an organization with voting members, the board is accountable to, and might be subordinate to, the full membership. In a stock corporation, non-executive directors are voted for by the shareholders, the board of directors appoints the chief executive officer of the corporation and sets out the overall strategic direction. In corporations with dispersed ownership, the identification and nomination of directors are often done by the board itself, in a non-stock corporation with no general voting membership, the board is the supreme governing body of the institution, its members are sometimes chosen by the board itself. Other names include Board of directors and advisors, board of governors, board of managers, board of regents, board of trustees and it may also be called the executive board and is often simply referred to as the board. For companies with publicly trading stock, these responsibilities are typically much more rigorous, typically, the board chooses one of its members to be the chairman, who holds whatever title is specified in the bylaws or articles of association. However, in organizations, the members elect the president of the organization. The directors of an organization are the persons who are members of its board, several specific terms categorize directors by the presence or absence of their other relationships to the organization. An inside director is a director who is also an employee, officer, chief executive, major shareholder, inside directors represent the interests of the entitys stakeholders, and often have special knowledge of its inner workings, its financial or market position, and so on. Executive directors often have an area of responsibility in the organization, such as finance, marketing, human resources. An outside director is a member of the board who is not otherwise employed by or engaged with the organization, a typical example is a director who is president of a firm in a different industry. Outside directors are not employees of the company or affiliated with it in any other way, outside directors bring outside experience and perspectives to the board. One of the arguments for having outside directors is that they can keep a eye on the inside directors. Outside directors are unlikely to tolerate insider dealing between insider directors, as outside directors do not benefit from the company or organization, outside directors are often useful in handling disputes between inside directors, or between shareholders and the board. They are thought to be advantageous because they can be objective, director - a person appointed to serve on the board of an organization, such as an institution or business. This practice results in an interlocking directorate, where a small number of individuals have significant influence over a large number of important entities
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Lobbying
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Lobbying is the act of attempting to influence the actions, policies, or decisions of officials in their daily life, most often legislators or members of regulatory agencies. Lobbying is done by many types of people, associations and organized groups, including individuals in the sector, corporations, fellow legislators or government officials. Lobbyists may be among a legislators constituencies, meaning a voter or bloc of voters within their district, or not, they may engage in lobbying as a business. Professional lobbyists are people whose business is trying to influence legislation, regulation, or other government decisions, actions, individuals and nonprofit organizations can also lobby as an act of volunteering or as a small part of their normal job. Governments often define and regulate organized group lobbying that has become influential, the ethics and morality of lobbying are dual-edged. Lobbying is often spoken of with contempt, when the implication is that people with inordinate socioeconomic power are corrupting the law in order to serve their own interests. The failure of government officials to serve the public interest as a consequence of lobbying by special interests who provide benefits to the official is an example of agent misdirection. One story held that the term originated at the Willard Hotel in Washington, DC, a lobbyist is a person who tries to influence legislation on behalf of a special interest or a member of a lobby. Governments often define and regulate organized group lobbying as part of laws to prevent political corruption, Lobby groups may concentrate their efforts on the legislatures, where laws are created, but may also use the judicial branch to advance their causes. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, for example, filed suits in state and their efforts resulted in the Supreme Court declaring such laws unconstitutional. They may use a device known as amicus curiae, literally friend of the court. Briefs are written documents filed with a court, typically by parties to a lawsuit, amici curiae briefs are briefs filed by people or groups who are not parties to a suit. These briefs are entered into the records, and give additional background on the matter being decided upon. Advocacy groups use these briefs both to share their expertise and to promote their positions, over the past twenty years lobbying in Australia has grown from a small industry of a few hundred employees to a multibillion-dollar per year industry. Lobbying has become a fact of life and is now endemic in local, state. It is not just the local councillors and state and federal politicians being lobbied, in Australia, lobbyists are expected to organise a pass to obtain access to the federal parliament. The Parliamentary Pass must be signed by two parliamentarians and it is administered by the Department of Parliamentary Services and has the enforcement of the Criminal Code Act 1995. The Pass is valid for two years, however, the Parliamentary Pass is not absolutely necessary, as some lobbyists are simply signed in on the day of their visit as guests of Senators or Members
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Federatie Nederlandse Vakbeweging
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The Federatie Nederlandse Vakbeweging is a federation of trade unions of the Netherlands. The FNV was founded in 1976 as a federation of two unions, the Catholic NKV and the social-democratic NVV, the Protestant CNV originally also participated in the talks, but it refused to fully merge into a new union. The federation was founded because of declining membership, due to depillarization, the two fused officially in 1982. Wim Kok, who had already been chair of NVV between 1973 and 1976 became chair of the new organization, which he remained until 1986 when entered parliament for the PvdA, the FNV was crucial in the economic recovery in the Netherlands during the 1980s. It supported the so-called Accords of Wassenaar, where employee accepted lower wages in trade for more employment. During the 1990s the FNV came into a conflict over reforms the WAO. In the 2000s the FNV came into conflict with the Second Balkenende cabinet over the AOW, the old aged act, and the WAO, a huge protest was organized in Amsterdam in 2004. Although the FNV started out as a union, it has a strong social-democratic orientation. It is critical of government and employers, but is also heavily incorporated in the Dutch pillarist system. Although the FNV is formally independent of other there are strong ideological and personal links with the social-democratic PvdA in what is known as the pillarization. Former FNV chair Wim Kok served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands, politicians from other Dutch parties also have their background in FNV, former leader of the Dutch GreenLeft Paul Rosenmöller was one of the leaders of the FNV in the Rotterdam harbours. The most important function of FNV are the collective bargaining negogiations, on wages and secondary working conditions and it also advises government through the Social Economic Council in which other trade unions, employers organizations and government appointed experts also have seats. FNV consists out of seventeen affiliate unions, with a total of 1.1 million members, the highest organ of the FNV is the federation congress, which meets every four years. It consists out of members of all unions, represented proportionally. It elects a board with four members, a chair, a vice-chair, a secretary. The current chair is Ton Heerts, a federation council is formed by the board members, and the chairs of the fourteen affiliated unions. It takes decisions over FNV policy
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Dutch general election, 1994
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General elections were held in the Netherlands on 3 May 1994. The Labour Party emerged as the largest party, winning 37 of the 150 seats in the House of Representatives, the election resulted in significant losses for both the Labour Party and the Christian Democratic Appeal. The formation of a government coalition was arduous but after four months the First Kok cabinet was formed and it was an unprecedented coalition of the two liberal parties and Labour. The CDA was consigned to opposition for the first time in its history and it was also the first government since 1918 not to include a Christian Democratic party. The Dutch Parliamentary Election of 1994, Electoral Studies 14#1 pp. 72-77
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Lijsttrekker
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Lijsttrekker is a Dutch term used in the Netherlands, Belgium and Suriname for the top candidate of a party on a party list. This person is almost always the political leader. The Prime Minister of the Netherlands almost always comes from among the lijsttrekkers in the previous election, during the election campaign these persons attract the most attention, for example in lijsttrekker debates, where the lijsttrekkers debate important issues with other lijsttrekkers on television. For example, in the 2003 elections, Wouter Bos was lijsttrekker for the social-democratic Labour Party, if, however, the party is unsuccessful in the elections, the lijsttrekker will often resign their post or leave politics entirely. This for instance happened to Thom de Graaf, who instead of gaining seats as expected, often parties also have a celebrity or well-known politician in the last place of the party list as lijstduwer
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Christian Democratic Appeal
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The Christian Democratic Appeal is a Christian-democratic political party in the Netherlands. Sybrand van Haersma Buma has been the party leader since 18 May 2012, the party suffered severe losses in the 2010 general election, losing half of its seats and falling to fourth place in the House of Representatives. Subsequently, the CDA again lost a number of seats in the 2012 general election. Since 1880 the sizeable Catholic and Protestant parties had worked together in the so-called Coalitie and they shared a common interest in public funding of religious schools. In 1888 they formed the first Christian-democratic government, led by the Anti-Revolutionary Æneas Baron Mackay, the cooperation was not without problems and in 1894 the more anti-papist and aristocratic conservatives left the Protestant Anti Revolutionary Party, to found the Christian Historical Union. The main issues dividing Protestants and Catholics was the position of the Dutch Representation at the Holy See, the General League evolved into the Roman Catholic State Party by 1926, and the Catholic Peoples Party in 1945. From 1918 to 1967, the three Christian Democratic parties had a majority in both houses of the States General, and at least two of them were included in every cabinet, the KVP and its antecedents had been in government without interruption since 1918. In the sixties, the Dutch society became more secularized and the pillars faded, in 1963 general election the three parties held 51% of the vote, whilst in 1972 general election they held only 32%. This decline forced the three parties to work closer together, in 1967 the Group of Eighteen was formed, it was a think-tank of six prominent politicians per party that planned the future cooperation of the three parties. In 1968 the three leaders of the parties (Norbert Schmelzer, Barend Biesheuvel and Jur Mellema made a public appearance. This caused progressive forces within the three parties, especially the ARP and KVP, to regret their political affiliation, in 1968 they founded the Political Party of Radicals, a left-wing party that sought cooperation with the Labour Party. Locally and provincially however the three parties had long cooperated well, in areas they formed one Christian-democratic parliamentary party. In the 1971 general election, the three presented a common political program, which lay the foundation for the first Biesheuvel cabinet. After the disastrous elections of 1972 the cooperation was given new momentum, in 1973 this federation was officially formed, with Steenkamp as chairperson. The cooperation was frustrated by the formation of the Den Uyl cabinet, established by the leader of the social-democratic PvdA, Den Uyl refused to allow members of the CHU in the cabinet that he would lead. This led to a situation where the CHU, ARP and KVP sat as a faction in both houses of parliament, but only the KVP and ARP supplied ministers and junior ministers. The cabinet Den Uyl was riddled with political and personal conflicts, another issue that split the three parties was the place that the Bible would take in the new party. In 1976, the three announced that they would field a single list at the 1977 general election under the name Christian Democratic Appeal
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People's Party for Freedom and Democracy
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The Peoples Party for Freedom and Democracy is a conservative-liberal political party in the Netherlands. The VVD, whose forerunner was the Freedom Party, supports private enterprise, Mark Rutte has been the partys leader since 31 May 2006 and the Prime Minister of the Netherlands since 14 October 2010. Therefore, an election was held in September 2012. The VVD remained the largest party, with 41 seats, from November 2012 until March 2017, the VVD was the senior partner in the Second Rutte cabinet, a purple coalition government with the Labour Party. The VVD was founded in 1948 as a continuation of the Freedom Party, which was a continuation of the interbellum Liberal State Party and they were joined by the Comité-Oud, a group of liberal members of the Labour Party, led by Pieter Oud. The liberals within the Labour Party were primarily members of the pre-war social-liberal Free-thinking Democratic League and they were unhappy with the social-democratic orientation of the Labour Party. Between 1948 and 1952 the VVD took part in the cabinets led by the Labour Party Prime Minister Willem Drees. The party was a partner with only eight seats to the Catholic Peoples Party and Labour Party. The partys leadership was in the hands of the respected former Labour Party member Oud, the Drees cabinet laid the foundation for the welfare state and decolonization of the Dutch East Indies. In the Dutch general election of 1952 the VVD gained one seat and this time they gained nineteen seats and the party entered government alongside the Protestant Anti Revolutionary Party, Christian Historical Union CHU and the Roman Catholic KVP. In 1963, Oud left politics, and was succeeded by the minister of Home Affairs Edzo Toxopeus, with the lead of Toxopeus VVD lost three seats in the 1963 elections, but remained in government. In 1966, frustrated with their hopeless efforts, LDC-members departed the VVD altogether, in 1965, there also occurred a conflict between VVD-ministers and their counterparts from KVP and ARP in Cabinet Marijnen. The cabinet fell and without elections it was replaced by the KVP-ARP-Labour Party cabinet under Cals, in the following 1967 elections the VVD remained relatively stable and entered yet again the cabinet under Prime Minister Piet de Jong. During this period the VVD had loose ties with other liberal organisations and this included the liberal papers Nieuwe Rotterdamsche Courant and the Algemeen Handelsblad, the broadcaster AVRO and the employers organisation VNO. In the Dutch general election of 1971 the VVD lost one seat, a cabinet was formed by the Christian-democratic parties, the VVD and the Labour Party offshoot Democratic Socialists 70. This cabinet fell after a few months, meanwhile, the charismatic young MP Hans Wiegel had attracted considerable attention. He became the new leader of the VVD, in 1971 he became the new Parliamentary group leader, with Wiegel the VVD oriented towards a new political course, reforming the welfare state, cutting taxes etc. Wiegel did not shrink from conflict with the Labour Party and the trade unions, with this new course came a new electorate, working class and middle-class voters, who because of individualization and depillarization were more easy to attract
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Democrats 66
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Democrats 66 is a social-liberal and progressive political party in the Netherlands. D66 was formed in 1966 by a group of politically unaligned young intellectuals, the partys main objective was to democratise the political system, it proposed to create an American-style presidential system. In the 1967 general election, the party won 7 of the 150 seats in the House of Representatives, the electoral history of the party is characterised by large fluctuations. At one point they had 24 seats, currently they have 19, the party was in government from 1973 to 1977,1981 to 1982,1994 to 2002 and 2003 to 2006. Over time the party began to other issues in addition to democratic reform. In addition to its nineteen seats in the House of Representatives, it holds ten in the Senate, the party leader and Parliamentary leader is Alexander Pechtold. The party has a number of elected local and provincial politicians and supplies a relatively large proportion of mayors. The partys voters are concentrated in cities, especially among people who hold a university degree. The organisation of D66 is based on principles of direct democracy, important decisions are made per referendum. D66 is a member of the Liberal International and the Alliance of Liberals, Democrats 66 was founded on 14 October 1966 by 44 people. Its founders were described as homines novi, although 25 of the 44 had previously been members of a political party, the initiators were Hans van Mierlo, a journalist for the Algemeen Handelsblad and Hans Gruijters, a municipal councillor in Amsterdam. Van Mierlo became the political leader and Gruijters the partys chair. The foundation of the party was preceded by the Appeal 1966 on October 10, the party renounced the 19th-century political ideologies, which dominated the political system and wanted to end pillarisation. It called for democratisation of the Dutch society and its political system. The party entered in the 1967 general election with Hans van Mierlo as their top candidate, the party won an unprecedented seven seats in parliament. In the 1971 general election the party won an additional four seats and it formed a Shadow Cabinet with the Labour Party, in the 1972 general election, the three parties formed a political alliance called the Progressive Accord and presented a common electoral program. In the elections D66 lost nearly half its seats, leaving only six, the alliance became the largest political force in the country, but it did not gain a majority. After long cabinet formation talks the three PAK-parties formed an extra-parliamentary cabinet joined by members of the Protestant Anti Revolutionary Party
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First Kok cabinet
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The First cabinet of Wim Kok, also called the Purple Coalition because of its social-democrat and liberal components, was a Dutch government formed by the political parties PVDA, VVD and D66. D66 had won its greatest political victory with the slogan that the Christian Democratic Appeal should be in the opposition for a change, the desire to form a cabinet without the Christian Democrats was based on the pivotal role in the political center that the CDA played in Dutch politics. The CDA had been in government continuously since its formation in 1980, the main aim of the cabinet was to create employment. GDP growth had been erratic in recent years, the aim of the cabinet was to increase the influence of markets in the economy, with policies of tax reduction, economizing and trying to keep people out of the social care by supporting employment. Another aim was to make an end to the debt of the Dutch government. The Treaty of Amsterdam was signed during this cabinet, the Srebrenica massacre occurred under the responsibility of this Government, which led later to the fall of the second Kok cabinet. This cabinet was the last to serve a term until the Second Rutte cabinet of 2012-2017. Five of the following cabinets resigned and one was a caretaker cabinet. Please refer to the article on State Secretary for an explanation about the function
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Dutch general election, 1998
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General elections were held in the Netherlands on 6 May 1998. During the 1998 election the coalition of social-democrats and left. Both the social-democratic PvdA and the conservative liberal VVD won considerably, much at the cost of their partner in cabinet. The two small left parties, the green GroenLinks, and the socialist SP, were rewarded for their quality opposition. The major opposition party, CDA, uncomfortable in its opposition role, the two parties for the elderly AOV and Unie 55+ and the rightwing populist CD did not return to parliament. The formation resulted in the continuation of the Kok cabinet, with the second Kok cabinet, representation and responsibility, the 1998 Dutch election in perspective. The Dutch parliamentary election of 1998, irwin, Galen A. van Holsteyn, Joop J. M. Parties and politicians in the parliamentary election of 1998
35.
Second Kok cabinet
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The Second Kok cabinet, also called the Second Purple cabinet was the executive branch of the Dutch government from 3 August 1998 until 22 July 2002. The cabinet was formed by the political parties Labour Party, Peoples Party for Freedom and Democracy, the cabinet was a majority cabinet in the House of Representatives. The new cabinet was the successor of the First Kok cabinet and was formed from the coalition of Labour Party, Peoples Party for Freedom and Democracy. It was also known as the tweede paarse kabinet called such because it contained both the social-democratic Labour Party and the liberal Peoples Party for Freedom and Democracy. The aim of the cabinet was to continue the policy of cabinet Kok I, wim Kok was the Prime Minister, Annemarie Jorritsma as the Deputy Prime Minister for the Peoples Party for Freedom and Democracy, and Els Borst for Democrats 66. The cabinet was considered boring, because both left-wing and right-wing political parties were a part of it, there was no strong opposition in the parliament. The cabinet completed processes of liberalisation which were started by the previous cabinet and this cabinet was notable for resigning twice. The Second Kok cabinet remained in place as a Demissionary cabinet until 22 July 2002, appt Appointment, De Vries appointed as Minister of the Interior and Kingdom Relations. Vermeend appointed as Minister of Social Affairs and Employment, cohen selected as Mayor of Amsterdam Res Resigned. Ad interim Van Boxtel served ad interim following the resignation of Peper, official Kabinet-Kok II Parlement & Politiek Kabinet-Kok II Rijksoverheid
36.
First Balkenende cabinet
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The first cabinet of Jan Peter Balkenende was in office in the Netherlands from 22 July 2002 until 16 October of the same year. The term of 87 days was the shortest since the cabinet of Hendrikus Colijn. A coalition between CDA, LPF and VVD was established quickly, despite some initial resistance by the VVD. By 4 July a detailed coalition agreement had been drawn up and the Queen appointed Jan Peter Balkenende, the cabinet was named on 16 July and was sworn in on 22 July. The first Balkenende cabinet comprised 14 ministers and 14 state secretaries, each of the ministers headed a department, with the exception of one minister without a portfolio to deal with foreigners policy and integration, accommodated by the Ministry of Justice. The first Balkenende cabinet was very unstable from the beginning, elections had been held in the very recent aftermath of the assassination of Pim Fortuyn, the leader of the newly established LPF. Emotions in the Netherlands had run very high, the LPF was catapulted into enormous wins, but was unprepared for cabinet participation. Only three of the 27 cabinet members had experience in government, leading to speculation that it wouldnt last long. As it turned out, personality conflicts and the inexperience of LPF cabinet members led to the rapid implosion of the cabinet after a little more than two months. The first scandal in the new government came only nine hours after it took office and this was during the period when the militia had committed the political murders known as the December Murders. Bijlhout, who was born in Suriname, had never denied being part of the militia, in the months following the election, the LPF was beset by power struggles between various factions. A big incident was when Immigration and Integration Minister Hilbrand Nawijn declared to be in favour of the death penalty, the cabinet was officially opposed to the death penalty. Nawijn responded that he made his remark as leader of the LPF, the party in its turn declared that it was opposed to the death penalty. In September and October Herman Heinsbroek speculated in public about leading a new party and this led to tension between him and his supporter Steven van Eyck and Bomhoff. Disregarding Bomhoffs warnings, the other LPF ministers took the bait and told Bomhoff and Heinsbroek to resign, immediately, Zalm broke his commitment to the remaining LPF ministers to accept replacements for Bomhoff and Heinsbroek and called for fresh elections. Meetings with the Queen did not take place until the week after the resignation, on 21 October she accepted the resignation and new elections were called for 22 January 2003. The cabinet remained in place as a cabinet, without Bomhoff and Heinsbroek, until the elections. After resigning he said he still denied the allegations, after the ensuing new elections, the LPF lost two-thirds of its seats in the House of Representatives
37.
European Union
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The European Union is a political and economic union of 28 member states that are located primarily in Europe. It has an area of 4,475,757 km2, the EU has developed an internal single market through a standardised system of laws that apply in all member states. Within the Schengen Area, passport controls have been abolished, a monetary union was established in 1999 and came into full force in 2002, and is composed of 19 EU member states which use the euro currency. The EU operates through a system of supranational and intergovernmental decision-making. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community, the community and its successors have grown in size by the accession of new member states and in power by the addition of policy areas to its remit. While no member state has left the EU or its antecedent organisations, the Maastricht Treaty established the European Union in 1993 and introduced European citizenship. The latest major amendment to the basis of the EU. The EU as a whole is the largest economy in the world, additionally,27 out of 28 EU countries have a very high Human Development Index, according to the United Nations Development Programme. In 2012, the EU was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, through the Common Foreign and Security Policy, the EU has developed a role in external relations and defence. The union maintains permanent diplomatic missions throughout the world and represents itself at the United Nations, the World Trade Organization, the G7, because of its global influence, the European Union has been described as an emerging superpower. After World War II, European integration was seen as an antidote to the nationalism which had devastated the continent. 1952 saw the creation of the European Coal and Steel Community, the supporters of the Community included Alcide De Gasperi, Jean Monnet, Robert Schuman, and Paul-Henri Spaak. These men and others are credited as the Founding fathers of the European Union. In 1957, Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and West Germany signed the Treaty of Rome and they also signed another pact creating the European Atomic Energy Community for co-operation in developing nuclear energy. Both treaties came into force in 1958, the EEC and Euratom were created separately from the ECSC, although they shared the same courts and the Common Assembly. The EEC was headed by Walter Hallstein and Euratom was headed by Louis Armand, Euratom was to integrate sectors in nuclear energy while the EEC would develop a customs union among members. During the 1960s, tensions began to show, with France seeking to limit supranational power, Jean Rey presided over the first merged Commission. In 1973, the Communities enlarged to include Denmark, Ireland, Norway had negotiated to join at the same time, but Norwegian voters rejected membership in a referendum
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Royal Dutch Shell
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Royal Dutch Shell plc, commonly known as Shell, is a British–Dutch multinational oil and gas company headquartered in the Netherlands and incorporated in the United Kingdom. It is one of the six oil and gas supermajors and the sixth-largest company in the world measured by 2016 revenues. Shell was first in the 2013 Fortune Global 500 list of the worlds largest companies and it also has renewable energy activities in the form of biofuels and wind. Shell has operations in over 70 countries, produces around 3.7 million barrels of oil equivalent per day and has 44,000 service stations worldwide, as of 31 December 2014, Shell had total proved reserves of 13.7 billion barrels of oil equivalent. Shell Oil Company, its subsidiary in the United States, is one of its largest businesses. Shell holds 50% of Raízen, a joint venture with Cosan, which is the third-largest Brazil-based energy company by revenues, Shell was formed in 1907 through the amalgamation of the Royal Dutch Petroleum Company of the Netherlands and the Shell Transport and Trading Company of the United Kingdom. Shell first entered the industry in 1929. In 1970 Shell acquired the mining company Billiton, which it sold in 1994. In recent decades gas exploration and production has become an important part of Shells business. Shell acquired BG Group in 2016, making it the worlds largest producer of liquefied natural gas, Shell has a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE100 Index. It has secondary listings on Euronext Amsterdam and the New York Stock Exchange, as of January 2013, Shells largest shareholder was Capital Research Global Investors with 9. 85% ahead of BlackRock in second with 6. 89%. Shells logo, known as the pecten, is one of the most familiar commercial symbols in the world and it was a move largely driven by the need to compete globally with Standard Oil. The Shell Transport and Trading Company was a British company, founded in 1897 by Marcus Samuel, 1st Viscount Bearsted, and his brother Samuel Samuel. Their father had owned a company in Houndsditch, London. For various reasons, the new firm operated as a company, whereby the merging companies maintained their legal existence. The terms of the merger gave 60 percent ownership of the new group to the Dutch arm and 40 percent to the British, national patriotic sensibilities would not permit a full-scale merger or takeover of either of the two companies. The Dutch company, Koninklijke Nederlandsche Petroleum Maatschappij at The Hague, was in charge of production, the British Anglo-Saxon Petroleum Company was based in London, to direct the transport and storage of the products. During the First World War, Shell was the supplier of fuel to the British Expeditionary Force
39.
KLM
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KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, legally Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij N. V. is the flag carrier airline of the Netherlands. KLM is headquartered in Amstelveen, with its hub at nearby Amsterdam Airport Schiphol and it is part of the Air France–KLM group, and is a member of the SkyTeam airline alliance. KLM was founded in 1919, it is the oldest airline in the still operating under its original name and had 32,505 employees as of 2013. KLM operates scheduled passenger and cargo services to approximately 130 destinations, in 1919, a young aviator lieutenant named Albert Plesman sponsored the ELTA aviation exhibition in Amsterdam. The exhibition was a success, after it closed several Dutch commercial interests intended to establish a Dutch airline. In September 1919, Queen Wilhelmina awarded the yet-to-be-founded KLM its Royal predicate, Plesman became its first administrator and director. The first KLM flight took place on 17 May 1920, KLMs first pilot, Jerry Shaw, flew from Croydon Airport, London, to Amsterdam. The flight was using a leased Aircraft Transport and Travel De Haviland DH-16, registration G-EALU. In 1920, KLM carried 440 passengers and 22 tons of freight, in April 1921, after a winter hiatus, KLM resumed its services using its own pilots, and Fokker F. II and Fokker F. III aircraft. In 1921, KLM started scheduled services, KLMs first intercontinental flight took off on 1 October 1924. The final destination was Jakarta, Java, in the Dutch East Indies, in September 1929, regular scheduled services between Amsterdam and Batavia commenced. Until the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939, this was the worlds longest-distance scheduled service by airplane. By 1926, it was offering flights to Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Brussels, Paris, London, Bremen, Copenhagen, in 1930, KLM carried 15,143 passengers. The Douglas DC-2 was introduced on the Batavia service in 1934, the first experimental transatlantic KLM flight was between Amsterdam and Curaçao in December 1934 using the Fokker F. XVIII Snip. The first of the airlines Douglas DC-3 aircraft were delivered in 1936, KLM was the first airline to serve Manchesters new Ringway airport, starting June 1938. When Germany invaded the Netherlands on 10 May 1940, a number of KLM aircraft—mostly DC-3s, five DC-3s and one DC-2 were taken to England. During the war, these aircraft and crew members flew scheduled flights between Bristol and Lisbon under BOAC registration. Some KLM aircraft and their crews ended up in the Australia-Dutch East Indies region, after the end of the Second World War in August 1945, KLM immediately started to rebuild its network
40.
ING Group
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The ING Group is a Dutch multinational banking and financial services corporation headquartered in Amsterdam. Its primary businesses are retail banking, direct banking, commercial banking, investment banking, asset management, ING is an abbreviation for Internationale Nederlanden Groep. The orange lion on INGs logo alludes to the Groups Dutch origins under the House of Orange-Nassau, ING is the Dutch member of the Inter-Alpha Group of Banks, a cooperative consortium of 11 prominent European banks. ING Bank was included in a list of global systemically important banks in 2012, as of 2013, ING served over 48 million individual and institutional clients in more than 40 countries, with a worldwide workforce exceeding 75,000. The company is a component of the Euro Stoxx 50 stock market index, ING Group traces its roots to two major insurance companies in the Netherlands and the banking services of the Dutch government. It later changed its name to De Nederlanden van 1845, two decades later in 1863 the life insurance company Nationale Levensverzekerings Bank was founded in Rotterdam. These two insurance companies would make multiple acquisitions before merging to form the combined company the Nationale-Nederlanden in 1963. The combined insurance company would expand significantly during the 1970s and 1980s, in 1881, the Dutch government created the Rijkspostspaarbank, a postal savings system to encourage workers to start saving. Four decades later they added the Postcheque and Girodienst services allowing working families to make payments via post offices, separately in 1927, the Dutch government initiated a re-organisation of Dutch banks which resulted in the creation of the Nederlandsche Middenstands Bank. NMBs focus was retail banking in the Netherlands and abroad, in 1986, post office banking services were privatised as Postbank N. V. and three years later it would merge with NMB bank to form NMB Postbank Groep. It also acquired Frankfurt based BHF-Bank in 1999, although disposed of this later and it increased its Latin American and Asia Pacifics insurance businesses with the acquisition of ReliaStar and Aetnas Financial Services unit. It also acquired the Polish Bank Śląski and Mexican insurance company Seguros Comercial América, however, it was the 1995 purchase of Barings Bank after its dramatic failure that saw ING Groups investment banking business boosted significantly. The first of these was set up in Canada in 1997, the no frills, high rate savings accounts that could only be accessed online were a successful venture and spawned a number of similar services from rival banks. In 2008, as part of the financial crisis ING Group, together with all other major banks in the Netherlands. This support increased INGs capital ratio above 8%, however as a condition of Dutch state aid and this included the sale of the ING Direct US operations to Capital One and the ING Direct UK operations to Barclays bank in 2012. The spun-off insurance businesses in North America were renamed Voya Financial in 2014, in November 2003, ING Groep N. V. appointed Michel Tilmant, Vice-Chairman of the executive board, as its new chairman and successor to Ewald Kist. ING has offices in, Due to the separation of ING Group into ING Bank and ING Insurance, ING House was the head office of NN Group and located in the business district of Zuidas in Amsterdam, Netherlands from 2012 to 2014. It was designed by Roberto Meyer and Jeroen van Schooten and was opened on 16 September 2002 by then Prince Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands
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Koninklijke TNT Post
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Koninklijke TNT Post BV was the national postal company in the Netherlands, owned by TNT N. V. Until May 2011, it operated under the brand TNT Post, in 1989, the state-run enterprise PTT became Royal PTT Netherlands, and the company was incorporated. In 1993, mail offices were privatised, and KPN was listed on the exchange in 1994. In 1996, the Australian company TNT was obtained through acquisition, on the eve of the new millennium, KPN was split to form two companies, a telecommunications company and a mail, express and logistics company. Until 2002 the national service of the Netherlands was called PTT Post. TNT Post became the new name of TPG Post on October 16,2006, the old red TPG mailboxes were changed to the new orange TNT mailboxes throughout the country. In May 2011, due to growing divergence of two major TNT N. V. divisions, mail and express, the changed its name to PostNL. Sure we can has been TNT Posts slogan since 2010, list of postal codes in the Netherlands PostNL TNT N. V. Official website Official website of the new company
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listen); born 29 September 1938) is a retired Dutch politician of the Labour Party (PvdA) who served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 22 August 1994 until 22 July 2002.[1][2]
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