Jan Peter Balkenende
Dr.
Jan Peter Balkenende (born
7 May 1956) has served as
Prime Minister of
The Netherlands since
22 July,
2002. On
June 30,
2006, he offered his resignation to
Queen Beatrix after his coalition government lost its majority in the
Dutch parliament the previous day. He formed a new cabinet, which had been installed on
7 july 2006 (see:
Third Balkenende cabinet).
Jan Peter Balkenende (legally
Jan Pieter Balkenende) studied law and history at the
Free University of Amsterdam.
He began his career on the staff of the research institute of the
political party Christen Democratisch Appèl (CDA) and as a city councillor in
Amstelveen. He later became a special
professor of Christian-Social Thought at the Free University of Amsterdam.
Balkenende first entered the
Tweede Kamer (lower house) of the Netherlands Parliament on
19 May,
1998, while the CDA was in opposition. He became the CDA's financial spokesman and was also involved with social affairs, justice, and domestic affairs. In this role he advocated a substational reduction of the national debt and sound public finances.
He was elected chairman of the parliamentary CDA on
1 October,
2001, in succession to
Jaap de Hoop Scheffer. On
3 November,
2001, he was appointed
lijsttrekker for the CDA in the May 2002 parliamentary elections. These elections became historic when
populist Pim Fortuyn was
assassinated and the
election campaign was halted. The result of the election restored the CDA's former position as the largest political party in the Dutch parliament.
On
4 July,
2002,
Queen Beatrix asked Balkenende to form a new government, in the wake of the resignation of Prime Minister
Wim Kok. This cabinet is known as
Balkenende I. This government (including the
LPF party of the murdered politician
Pim Fortuyn) resigned after just 86 days in office because of infighting in the LPF which destabilised the government. After early elections in 2003 Balkenende formed his second
government Balkenende II with the
liberal VVD and the
progressive liberal D66.
Once again leader of a center-right coalition, Balkenende's policies centered around reform of the Dutch public services, reducing crime, a tough immigration policy and historically large cuts in public spending. The measures gave rise to large public anger and bad results in opinion polls for his CDA party. While his party remained the largest Dutch delegation in the
European Parliament after the European Elections, beating the general expectation of a huge loss in parliamentary seats, the party suffered massive losses during
Dutch Municipal Elections of 2006, losing their position as the largest party in many municipalities. Despite his impopularity among Dutch voters, his position as leader of the CDA seems currently unchallenged.
On
1 July,
2004 he took up the rotating presidency of the
European Union.
On
30 June,
2006 D66, the smallest coalition party, withdrew its support of the government over the way
immigration minister
Rita Verdonk had handled the crisis around the naturalisation of Dutch MP
Ayaan Hirsi Ali. Balkenende resigned for the second time as Prime Minister, announced early elections and presented his third government a week later. This cabinet, formed of a minority coalition of CDA and VVD, is likely to stay in office until the elections of
22 November 2006.
Balkenende currently resides with his wife, Bianca, and his daughter Amelie in
Capelle aan den IJssel. He rents an apartment in
The Hague rather than inhabit the
Catshuis formal residency of the Prime Minister. He is a devout
Protestant.
Balkenende is often called "
Harry Potter" by the Dutch inhabitants because of his resemblance to the storybook character. On the occasion of April Fool's Day 2003, the Dutch children's news program, Jeugdjournaal, announced that Balkenende was going to play a small role in the next Harry Potter movie as Harry's father. On
4 June,
2005, this comparison was made by
Belgian Minister of Foreign Affairs Karel De Gucht in the
Flemish newspaper
Het Laatste Nieuws (The Latest News). This caused a small diplomatic controversy, and the Belgian ambassador had to apologise to
Bernard Bot, the
Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs. De Gucht stated that "Balkenende is a mix of Harry Potter and a petty rigid bourgeois mentality" (
brave stijfburgerlijkheid).
Balkenende is also called "Balkenellende" by some citizens, "ellende" means misery.
*
First Balkenende cabinet*
Second Balkenende cabinet*
Third Balkenende cabinet*
Minaz.nl - Official website of the Prime Minister
