Ruud Lubbers
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
In office January 1, 2001 – February 20, 2005
Preceded by	Sadako Ogata
Succeeded by	António Guterres
Prime Minister of the Netherlands
In office November 4, 1982 – August 22, 1994
Monarch	Beatrix
Preceded by	Dries van Agt
Succeeded by	Wim Kok
Parliamentary leader - Christian Democratic Appeal House of Representatives
In office November 7, 1978 – November 4, 1982
Preceded by	Wim Aantjes
Succeeded by	Bert de Vries
Member of the House of Representatives
In office December 22, 1977 – November 4, 1982
Minister of Economic Affairs
In office May 11, 1973 – December 19, 1977
Prime Minister	Joop den Uyl
Preceded by	Harry Langman
Succeeded by	Gijs van Aardenne
Personal details
Born	Rudolphus Franciscus Marie Lubbers (1939-05-07) May 7, 1939 (age 73) Rotterdam, Netherlands
Nationality	Dutch
Political party	Christian Democratic Appeal (from 1980)
Other political affiliations	Catholic People's Party (1964-1980)
Spouse(s)	Ria Lubbers-Hoogeweegen (b. 1940 m. 1962)
Residence	Rotterdam, Netherlands Dalfsen, Netherlands
Alma mater	Erasmus University (M.A.) Georgetown University (Dr.h.c.) Hankuk University (Dr.h.c.) Grand Valley State University (Dr.h.c.) Radboud University Nijmegen (Dr.h.c.)
Occupation	Politician Diplomat Economist Businessman Activist Professor
Religion	Roman Catholic

Rudolphus Franciscus Marie "Ruud" Lubbers (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈryt ˈlʏbərs] ( listen); born May 7, 1939) is a retired Dutch politician of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA). He served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands from November 4, 1982 until August 22, 1994.

He previously served as Minister of Economic Affairs from May 11, 1973 until December 19, 1977 in the Cabinet den Uyl. He became a Member of the House of Representatives from December 22, 1977 until November 4, 1982. When the Parliamentary leader of Christian Democratic Appeal in the House of Representatives Wim Aantjes resigned of a World War II controversy, Lubbers succeed him as Parliamentary leader, he served from November 7, 1978 until November 4, 1982. When the Christian Democratic Appeal Party leader and sitting Prime Minister Dries van Agt announced his retirement, Lubbers was chosen to succeed him. Lubbers became Prime Minister of the Netherlands, leading the Cabinets Lubbers I, II and III. Lubbers was regarded by many during his time in office as an ideological heir to Margaret Thatcher. One of his campaign slogans was: "meer markt, minder overheid" (more market, less government).

After his premiership, Lubbers semi-retired from active politics and became a Professor at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard and Tilburg University from 1995 until 2001. He became the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees on January 1, 2001 and served until his resignation on February 20, 2005. Lubbers acted as informateur for two cabinet formations, the Cabinet Balkenende III in 2006 and the Cabinet Rutte in 2010. Lubbers holds the records of being the youngest person to occupy the office, at the age of 43 and the longest serving Prime Minister of the Netherlands. He is currently a member of the Club de Madrid, an organization of former democratic statesmen that works to strengthen democratic governance and leadership.^[1]

On January 31, 1995 he was granted the honorary title of Minister of State.^[2]

Biography[link]

Early life[link]

Rudolphus Franciscus Marie Lubbers was born on May 7, 1939 in Rotterdam in the Netherlands province of South Holland. He studied economics at the Erasmus University Rotterdam and was a student of the first Nobel Prize Laureate in economics Jan Tinbergen. As suggested by the title of his 1962 thesis - "The influence of differing productivity trends in various countries on the current account of the balance of payments" - his main interest was in monetary affairs. He originally planned an academic career, but was compelled by family circumstances to join the management of Lubbers' Construction Workshops and Machinery Fabricators Hollandia B.V.

Politics[link]

Ruud Lubbers as Prime Minister of the Netherlands in 1982.

Ruud Lubbers with then United States Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger in 1983.

Ruud Lubbers as Prime Minister of the Netherlands in 1984, speaking with a union leader.

Ruud Lubbers as Prime Minister of the Netherlands in 1986.

Ruud Lubbers at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in 1993.

Ruud Lubbers in 1999.

Ruud Lubbers in 2010.

From 11 May 1973 to 19 December 1977 Ruud Lubbers was Minister of Economic Affairs in the Den Uyl-government and a member of the Catholic People's Party (KVP). He was an effective, if sometimes somewhat bad-tempered minister. He chose to return to Parliament on the formation of the Van Agt-government in 1977, becoming Senior Deputy Parliamentary Leader of the CDA, the alliance between the KVP and the other two main Christian parties. His career got an unexpected boost when the leader of the parliamentary faction of the CDA, Willem Aantjes, had to resign in 1978 because accusations that he had served in the Germanic-SS during the Second World War. Lubbers took over the position of Aantjes and suddenly found himself in a powerful political position.

In 1982 after the general election won by Prime Minister Dries van Agt, a similar thing happened when Van Agt suddenly announced he would not be available for a third term. Lubbers took over the post, a position he held three successive governments through to 1994, making him the longest serving prime minister in the history of the Netherlands.

Major aspects of his time in office:

• Extensive cutbacks in public spending
• The launch of far-reaching deregulation and privatization programs
• A massive demonstration in The Hague (1983) against the planned installation in the Netherlands of nuclear-armed US cruise missiles (which was cancelled after all due to arms reduction talks between the US and the Soviet Union)

After leaving office, was put forward as a candidate for the head of NATO, but the US vetoed his appointment.

Ecological activities[link]

In the follow-up of the Earth Summit in 1992, Lubbers engaged with the Earth Charter Initiative in cooperation with Mikhail Gorbachev and Maurice Strong. The Earth Charter document was launched in the Peace Palace in The Hague in June 2000. Lubbers is an active member of the international Earth Charter Commission and reaches out, especially to youth in the Netherland, with the message of the Earth Charter for a sustainable and peaceful world.

Academic[link]

From 1995 to 2000, he taught Globalization Studies at Tilburg University in the Netherlands and at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University in the United States. He was also vice-chairman of the Independent World Commission on the Oceans and chair of Globus, the Institute for Globalization and Development based in Tilburg.

UN High Commissioner for Refugees[link]

At the end of the year 2000, Lubbers was appointed by the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Mr. Kofi Annan, to succeed Mrs. Sadako Ogata as UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

Lubbers was appointed 1 January 2001 to head an organization which was concerned with an estimated 21 million refugees and internally displaced in over 120 countries world wide. He led a UN agency that comprised over 5,000 employees who work across the globe. During his tenure, the number of refugees worldwide decreased by almost 22% from 21.8 million in 2001 to close to 17.1 million at the beginning of 2004.

Lubbers also favoured a generous refugee policy for the Netherlands and he was critical of the Foreign Citizens Law (Vreemdelingenwet). Part of his achievement is that since he took on his duties as High Commissioner, the persistent criticism of UNHCR dating from before that time, subsided.^{[citation needed]} He also managed to stabilise UNHCR’s financial situation and to greatly increase the financial means for the sheltering of refugees.^{[citation needed]}

He annually donated some $300,000 to the refugee agency since he assumed his post in 2001, thereby covering his own $167,000 annual salary and travel expenses.

Sexual harassment complaint[link]

In May 2004, Lubbers was accused by Cynthia Brzak, an American UNHCR employee, of sexual harassment following a meeting in his office that was attended by two other UNHCR staff members. The complaint was reported in the media,^[3] prompting Lubbers to inform UNHCR staff about the accusation. On this occasion, he denied any wrongdoing and rejected the allegation against him.^{[citation needed]} On 2 June 2004, the United Nations Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) which was tasked with investigating the accusation, sent its report to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan.^[4][5] In its public annual report to the UN secretary general (presented to the UN General Assembly), the OIOS reported concerning the case that it had “submitted a report to the Secretary-General supporting the allegations and recommended that appropriate actions be taken accordingly.”^[6]

Lubbers responded to the OIOS report in a letter setting out to (a) deny acts of sexual harassment or abuse took place; (b) establish that such evidence of the alleged misconduct as is said to exist is insufficient and flawed; and (c) conclude that the report itself would appear to be based on an irregular statutory basis and also flawed by errors of law and reasoning."^[7]

Lubbers asked Max van der Stoel, former Dutch high commissioner for minorities, to comment on the confidential report.^[8] He concluded that: "the OIOS report is deficient in objectivity and impartiality." He added “that the only two other persons in the room did not provide evidence confirming the version given by the complainant.” Furthermore he accused UN officials of leaking information to the press and recommended that an investigation of the leaks be undertaken.^[9]

The Secretary-General reviewed the report and the responses of the High Commissioner and the senior manager to the report, and decided that the complaint could not be substantiated by the evidence and therefore closed the matter."^[10] He is also reported to have consulted with Stephen Schwebel, an American judge and former President of the International Court of Justice.^{[citation needed]} The Secretary-General failed to order an investigation of the deliberate leaking by OIOS itself to the media as recommended by Max van der Stoel.

Resignation[link]

In February 2005, the case was in the news again when the British daily the Independent obtained a copy of the OIOS report and accompanied by an article by Kate Holt published its contents.^[11] Inter alia, the report stated that:

the allegation against Lubbers is substantiated in that Lubbers did engage in unwanted physical contact with the complainant, a subordinate female staff member. New allegations that came to OIOS’ attention during the investigation, were also examined and indicate a pattern of sexual harassment by Lubbers, OIOS is also of the view that Lubbers abused his authority as High Commissioner by his intense, pervasive and intimidating attempts to influence the outcome of this Investigation.^[5]

Lubbers met with the Secretary-General on 18 February 2005, and resigned as High Commissioner on Sunday, 20 February 2005, stating to the press: "For more than four years I gave all my energy to UNHCR. To be frank, despite all my loyalty, insult has now been added to injury and therefore I resign as High Commissioner." The UN secretary general's office issued a statement the same day which stated, that the High Commissioner's resignation was in the best interests of the UNHCR.^[12] In his letter of resignation, Lubbers stated that his resignation constituted no expression of guilt, but that he had become the victim of smearing, adding that he had resigned “in the interest of the organisation”.^[13] In October 2005 Kofi Annan reiterated that he had come to the conclusion that "the evidence did not support the accusation" but that because of ongoing media-pressure Mr. Lubber's resignation was in the best interests of the UNHCR.^[14] In a letter to UNHCR staff, Kofi Annan wrote, “My decision to accept his resignation should not be interpreted as a finding of guilt”.^[15]

During a farewell meeting for Lubbers as High Commissioner for Refugees he received from Acting High Commissioner Wendy Chamberlin the first annual UNHCR Achievement Award for exceptional services to UNHCR and for the world’s refugees.^[16]

Netherlands Prime Minister Balkenende in a formal statement called the departure of Lubbers “bitter” since the complaint against him had been dismissed as unsustainable.^{[citation needed]}

Informateur[link]

• After the fall of the Cabinet Balkenende II Lubbers became the Informateur for the formation of the Demissionary interim Cabinet Balkenende III.
• For the 2010 Dutch cabinet formation, after coalition meetings between People's Party for Freedom and Democracy, Labour Party, Democrats 66 and GreenLeft failed to form a new Purple government Lubbers was asked again to become Informateur tho seek possibilities for a new coalition.^[17]

Honours and awards[link]

This section requires expansion.

Honours[link]

• Order of the Netherlands Lion (Netherlands)
  • Knight Grand Cross (8 October 1994)
  • Knight (11 April 1978)
• Varia foreign honours

Awards[link]

• Honorary citizen of Maastricht (Netherlands, March 1994)
• Four Freedoms Award (3 April 1995)
• Van Oldenbarneveltpenning (December 2003 )

Honorary degrees[link]

• Honorary doctorate for contributions in politics and economics, University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro (Vila Real, Portugal, 1993)
• Honorary doctorate in Law, Georgetown University (Washington, D.C., USA, 1993)
• Honorary doctorate in Political sciences, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies (Seoul, South-Korea, 1993)
• Honorary doctorate, Grand Valley State University (Michigan, USA, 1994)
• Honorary doctorate, Radboud University (Nijmegen, Netherlands, 6 September 2004)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Drs. R.F.M. Lubbers (Ministry of General Affairs)
• (Dutch) Dr. R.F.M. (Ruud) Lubbers (Parlement & Politiek)

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Ruud Lubbers

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Ruud Lubbers

v t e Prime Ministers of the Netherlands Schimmelpenninck • de Kempenaer • Thorbecke • van Hall • van der Brugghen • Rochussen • van Zuylen van Nijevelt • van Heemstra • Fransen van de Putte • van Zuylen van Nijevelt •van Bosse • de Vries • J. Heemskerk • Kappeyne van de Coppello • van Lynden van Sandenburg • J. Heemskerk • Mackay • van Tienhoven • Roëll • Pierson • Kuyper • de Meester • T. Heemskerk • Cort van der Linden • Ruijs de Beerenbrouck • Colijn • de Geer • Gerbrandy • Schermerhorn • Beel • Drees • de Quay • Marijnen • Cals • Zijlstra • de Jong • Biesheuvel • den Uyl • van Agt • Lubbers • Kok • Balkenende • Rutte

v t e Presidents of the European Council President-in-Office (1975–2009) Liam Cosgrave · Aldo Moro · Gaston Thorn · Joop den Uyl · James Callaghan · Leo Tindemans · Anker Jørgensen · Helmut Schmidt · Valéry Giscard d'Estaing · Jack Lynch · Francesco Cossiga · Charles Haughey · Pierre Werner · Dries van Agt · Margaret Thatcher · Wilfried Martens · Anker Jørgensen · Poul Schlüter · Helmut Kohl · Andreas Papandreou · François Mitterrand · Garret FitzGerald · Bettino Craxi · Jacques Santer · Ruud Lubbers · Margaret Thatcher · Wilfried Martens · Poul Schlüter · Helmut Kohl · Andreas Papandreou · Felipe González · François Mitterrand · Charles Haughey · Giulio Andreotti · Jacques Santer · Ruud Lubbers · Poul Schlüter · Aníbal Cavaco Silva · John Major · Poul Nyrup Rasmussen · Jean-Luc Dehaene · Andreas Papandreou · Helmut Kohl · Jacques Chirac · Felipe González · Lamberto Dini · Romano Prodi · John Bruton · Wim Kok · Jean-Claude Juncker · Tony Blair · Viktor Klima · Gerhard Schröder · Paavo Lipponen · António Guterres · Jacques Chirac · Göran Persson · Guy Verhofstadt · José María Aznar López · Anders Fogh Rasmussen · Costas Simitis · Silvio Berlusconi · Bertie Ahern · Jan Peter Balkenende · Jean-Claude Juncker · Tony Blair · Wolfgang Schüssel · Matti Vanhanen · Angela Merkel · José Sócrates · Janez Janša · Nicolas Sarkozy · Mirek Topolánek · Jan Fischer · Fredrik Reinfeldt Permanent President (since 2009) Herman Van Rompuy

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André van Duin

André van Duin (pseudonym for Adrianus Marinus Kyvon; born 20 February 1947 in Rotterdam) is a Dutch actor (in comedy and theatre), singer, writer and program creator.

History[link]

Television, radio and theatre[link]

Van Duin was discovered in 1964 when he won the AVRO talent contest show Nieuwe Oogst, which gave him the opportunity to debut on television alongside singing father and daughter Willy and Willeke Alberti.

From 1967 onwards, André van Duin made regular appearances on Dutch television and took apprenticeship at comedians Snip & Snap's theatre-shows. He did his homework well and in the 1970s he set up his own Revue with Frans van Dusschoten (the straight man) and Corrie van Gorp. These shows were televised on TROS and in 1975 Van Duin won an award for Dag Dag Heerlijke Lach

In 1972, André van Duin began the radio program Dik Voormekaar Show. First with Radio Noordzee Internationaal, later with the NCRV and TROS. Surprisingly he involved his then technician, Ferry de Groot, in the show, becoming the successful character "Meneer de Groot" (Mister de Groot). The show continued to air as recently as 2009.

In 1989 Van Duin, alongside stable-mate Ron Brandsteder, was taken over by TV Tien, the commercial station that never happened due to transmission problems; instead they ended up joining at RTL being team-captains in Wie ben ik ? hosted by Caroline Tensen. Between 1993 and 1999 Van Duin made television shows for RTL; one notable moment was when he mocked Tensen's apology-themed programme Het spijt me by driving a wedge between Tensen and Brandsteder. The latter knew that something suspicious was going on and embarked on the warpath accusing Van Duin of playing divide and conquer.

In 2007 the André's Nieuwe Revue-tour was launched; the long-neglected Belgium was visited in November 2008 for five shows in Antwerp.

After 18 years with RTL, Van Duin happily returned to his beloved TROS. In 2009 he made a new series of Dik Voormekaar Shows.

Acting[link]

In 1972 André van Duin debuted as a serious actor in Het Meisje Met De Blauwe Hoed (The Girl With The Blue Hat) playing an army recruit.

In 1981 he pushed the envelope by starring in his own movie; Ik ben Joep Meloen is the story of a piano tuner who sees his Concerto Grosso turned down, the rent expires, the love of his life marries another and he can't even arrange his own assassination. Instead Joep Meloen takes gangsters' advice and jumps in the canal, only to save a troubled singer, played by Corrie van Gorp, from committing suicide. There is still one problem; the gangsters have changed their minds and decided to kill him after all.

Ik Ben Joep Meloen premiered late 1981 and did reasonably well.

In 1982 Van Duin worked on De Boezemvriend, partly an adaptation of the Danny Kaye movie The Inspector General which portrays charlatan dentist Fred 'Pas du Pain' van der Zee mistaken for Napoleon's delegate. Several celebrities made an appearance (including Connie Breukhoven as Mercedes and the late Andre Hazes who runs the restaurant where Fred avoids the bill by eating meats until he drops).

De Boezemvriend premiered late 1982 but unlike Joep Meloen it was considered a failure. Van Duin didn't enjoy making movies as much as he enjoyed making television programmes and hasn't returned to the big screen since.

Singing[link]

The wacky side[link]

As a singer, André van Duin has quite a number of popular songs to his name. He has had hits such as Het bananenlied, Angelique, De tamme boerenzoon, File, Doorgaan and Willy Alberti, bedankt. He has also had some hits that grew from stage performances such as Er staat een paard in de gang (1981) and Ik heb hele grote bloemkolen'.

In January 1976, Van Duin had another massive hit with Willempie. Parents to mentally challenged children however considered it too offensive, even though the song wasn't intended to. Willempie was number 1 on AVRO's 'Top Pop'-chart for three weeks, but the song was banned while controversy lasted. Van Duin escaped legal actions by apologising on 'Top Pop' at the end of the month.

A year later Andre van Duin released the more neutral Ta Ta Ta; TV-appearances were lightened up by playing a conductor to a choir of penguins and nuns.

In the 1990s he had one of his last major hits with Pizzalied (Effe Wachten) (no. 1 late 1993).

The serious side[link]

In 1976 Van Duin released And're Andre (close translation: The Other Andre), an album stripped of wackiness (although File, a roadblock-themed cover version of Morris Albert's Feelings is a slight compromise) that became the first of five volumes. Besides And're Andre, Van Duin went on to release Wij (Us), Wij Twee (Two of Us), an album full of Perry Como-translations and Recht Uit Het Hart (Straight From The Heart).

His 1980s fun hits were interrupted by tributes to the sunny weather (including a cover version of Because I Love You) and durable friendship (a duet with Willeke Alberti).

The TV-special that accompanied the 1985 volume of And're Andre triggered off the WWF-promoting Animal Crackers-series.

2010; new album, biography and compilation-show[link]

In March 2010, Van Duin released Dubbel, a 2CD made up of both serious and wacky songs (with the mother's day-tribute "Moederdag" another compromise and Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" becoming the cattle-themed "Alle Koeien"). Embarking on a promotion-trip he made a 30 March appearance on weekday-talkshow De Wereld Draait Door (where he announced the comeback of Animal Crackers), the next day followed by shocking revelations from Jan Wijdbeens, a journalist who interviewed celebrities for Van Duin's RTL-shows. TROS aired the TV-special Andre van Duin; Pur Sang on Easter Monday 5 April.

Ferry de Groot is currently writing a Van Duin biography.

In October, Van Duin took over the Saturday-evening slot from Paul de Leeuw. In these compilation-shows Wijdbeens visits celebrities asking them for their favourite Van Duin-moments and handing out packages of gadgets from the heyday.

Private life[link]

Andre van Duin had a longtime relationship with Wim van der Pluym; they split in the 1990s, and shortly thereafter van der Pluym died.^{[citation needed]} Van Duin found a new love in Martin Elferink whom he married on 23 December 2006,^[1] ten days after their plans were announced.^[2]

References[link]

External links[link]

• André van Duin at the Internet Movie Database

Wim Kok
Prime Minister of the Netherlands
In office August 22, 1994 – July 22, 2002
Monarch	Beatrix
Deputy	See list Hans Dijkstal (I) Hans van Mierlo (I) Annemarie Jorritsma (II) Els Borst (II)
Preceded by	Ruud Lubbers
Succeeded by	Jan Peter Balkenende
Party leader Labour Party
In office July 21, 1986 – December 15, 2001
Preceded by	Joop den Uyl
Succeeded by	Ad Melkert
Parliamentary leader – Labour Party House of Representatives
In office May 7, 1998 – August 14, 1998
Preceded by	Jacques Wallage
Succeeded by	Jacques Wallage
Member of the House of Representatives
In office May 19, 1998 – August 22, 1998
Parliamentary leader – Labour Party House of Representatives
In office May 4, 1994 – August 22, 1994
Preceded by	Thijs Wöltgens
Succeeded by	Jacques Wallage
Member of the House of Representatives
In office May 17, 1994 – August 22, 1994
Minister of Finance
In office November 7, 1989 – August 22, 1994
Prime Minister	Ruud Lubbers
Preceded by	Onno Ruding
Succeeded by	Gerrit Zalm
Deputy Prime Minister
In office November 7, 1989 – August 22, 1994
Prime Minister	Ruud Lubbers
Preceded by	Rudolf de Korte
Succeeded by	Hans Dijkstal Hans van Mierlo
Parliamentary leader – Labour Party House of Representatives
In office July 21, 1986 – November 5, 1989
Preceded by	Joop den Uyl
Succeeded by	Thijs Wöltgens
Member of the House of Representatives
In office June 3, 1986 – November 6, 1989
Personal details
Born	Willem Kok (1938-09-29) September 29, 1938 (age 73) Bergambacht, Netherlands
Nationality	Dutch
Political party	Labour Party
Spouse(s)	Rita Roukema (b. 1939 m. 1965)
Residence	Amsterdam, Netherlands
Alma mater	Nyenrode Business Universiteit (Dr.h.c.) University of Münster (Dr.h.c.)
Occupation	Politician Lobbyist Corporate director Trade Union Leader
Religion	Non-religious (Agnosticism)[1][2][3]
Signature
Website	Club of Madrid

Willem "Wim" Kok (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈʋɪm ˈkɔk] ( listen)); born September 29, 1938) is a retired Dutch politician of the Labour Party (PvdA). He served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands from August 22, 1994 until July 22, 2002.

A former Trade Union Leader, Kok served as Chairman of the Netherlands Association of Trade Unions from 1972 until 1976 when it merged to form the Federation Netherlands Labour Movement, Kok served as its first Chairman from 1976 until 1986 when he left to enter politics. He was elected as a Member of the House of Representatives on June 3, 1986 after the Dutch general election of 1986. The Labour Party Party leader and Parliamentary leader of the Labour Party in the House of Representatives Joop den Uyl announced that he was stepping down after serving twenty years as Party leader. Kok was elected to succeed him and became Party leader and the Parliamentary leader in the House of Representatives on July 21, 1986 and served as opposition leader during the parliamentary period of the Cabinet Lubbers II. For the Dutch general election of 1989 Kok became the lijsttrekker and the Labour Party lost 3 seats but the following cabinet formation resulted in a coalition agreement with the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) which formed the Cabinet Lubbers III. Kok became Minister of Finance and Deputy Prime Minister serving from November 7, 1989 until August 22, 1994.

For the Dutch general election of 1994 Kok again as lijsttrekker lost 12 seats but the Christian Democratic Appeal with new Party leader Elco Brinkman lost 20 seats. The Labour Party became the largest party in the House of Representatives and after a arduous coalition formation with the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) and the Democrats 66 (D66) resulted in the Cabinet Kok I. With the following Dutch general election of 1998, Kok again as lijsttrekker won 8 seats and the coalition retained its majority and a formation resulted in a continuation of the policies with a Cabinet Kok II. Kok was highly praised for his Third Way and Polder Model philosophies and his success in leading his Purple Coalitions; and he obtained the status of a statesman by his fellow European leaders.^[4]

After his premiership, Kok retired from active politics at the age of sixty three and became a lobbyist for the European Union and presided over several 'high level groups'. He also occupied many posts in industry and seats on numerous supervisory boards (ING Group, Koninklijke TNT Post, Royal Dutch Shell, KLM, Stork B.V., the International Commission on Missing Persons, the International Crisis Group and the Anne Frank Foundation). Kok is the current president of the Club of Madrid, a organization promotes democracy and change in the global community.

On April 11, 2003 he was granted the honorary title of Minister of State.^[5]

Early life[link]

Wim Kok as Trade Union Leader in 1977.

Wim Kok and President of Russia Vladimir Putin in 2001.

Wim Kok and Prime Minister of the Netherlands Mark Rutte in 2011.

Willem Kok was born on September 29, 1938 in Bergambacht in the Netherlands Province of South Holland. After completing his studies at the Nyenrode Business Universiteit business school, he started his career in 1961 at the socialist Nederlands Verbond van Vakverenigingen (NVV), where he was chairman from 1973 until 1982. Between 1976 and 1986 he was chair of the Federatie Nederlandse Vakbeweging (FNV), a merger of the NVV and the Catholic trade union NKV, which he had overseen.

Political career[link]

In 1986, Kok succeeded Joop den Uyl as leader of the social democratic Labour Party. From 1989 until 1994 he was Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance in a cabinet with the centre-right party Christian Democratic Appeal.

In 1994, Kok became Prime Minister in a cabinet with the conservative liberal People's Party for Freedom and Democracy and the social liberal party Democrats 66. This cabinet goes under the name of Cabinet Kok I. This Purple coalition was the first in decades to form a government without the Christian Democratic Appeal. After the elections in 1998 he led a second government with the same partners, Cabinet Kok II.

The main aim of the Cabinet Kok I was to create employment. The Dutch economy had been in a strong recession for years. The market should get more influence in the economy. This let to a policy of tax reduction, economizing and trying to keep people out of the social care by supporting employment. Large infrastructural projects were started. Another aim was to make an end to the enormous 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 was the last cabinet in recent history to serve a full term. Five of the following cabinets resigned and one was a temporary caretaker cabinet.

The second cabinet was the successor of the first cabinet was formed from the same coalition of PvdA, VVD and D66. It was also known as the 'tweede paarse kabinet' ('second purple cabinet') called such because it contained both the social-democratic PvdA (red) and the liberal VVD (blue). The aim of the cabinet was to continue the policy of cabinet Kok I, which was concerned with economizing, tax reduction and making an end to unemployment. Wim Kok was the prime minister, Annemarie Jorritsma as the deputy prime minister for the VVD, and Els Borst for D66. 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 House of Representatives. This cabinet was notable for resigning twice. The first time was in May 1999, when D66 stepped out of the coalition when proposed legislation entered by this party was blocked; through negotiations the crisis was solved and the cabinet stayed together. The second and final time was on 16 April 2002, close to the natural end of term for the cabinet, when prime minister Kok wished to resign over the NIOD report into the fall of Srebrenica in 1995 and the other ministers had no choice but to follow him. The Second Kok cabinet remained in place as a caretaker cabinet until 22 July 2002, when it was replaced by the first Balkenende cabinet.

During most of Kok's time as Prime Minister, the Netherlands was booming economically and Kok was credited internationally for the Dutch Polder Model. This same "Polder model" went out of fashion early 2002, which saw the rise of Pim Fortuyn, a political newcomer. Kok's second cabinet fell just weeks before the May 2002 elections when Kok and all his ministers stepped down because of the discussion about the possible Dutch responsibility in the Srebrenica massacre.

Kok was succeeded as leader of the Labour Party by Ad Melkert, who went on to lose the Dutch general election of 2002.

After politics[link]

Kok left Dutch politics after the election, as he had already announced the year before, but that does not mean his political life has ended. Like many whose official political careers have ended, he continues to influence politics.

After his premiership, Kok retired from active politics and became a lobbyist for the European Union. He is the current president of the Club of Madrid. This organization promotes democracy and change in the global community. Members of the club are former heads of state and government.

Lisbon Strategy[link]

Between April and November 2004, Kok headed up a review of the Lisbon Strategy and presented a report containing suggestions on how to give new impetus to the Lisbon process. The European Commission used this report to declare that the social and environmental parts are no longer a priority and declared a return to the Lisbon Agenda under economic terms only.

Kok now lobbies for the Lisbon Strategy of the European Commission and has also been appointed to the Advisory Board of the European Association of History Educators.

Decorations[link]

• Order of Isabella the Catholic
  • Knight Grand Cross (October 19, 2001) ^[6]
• Order of Orange-Nassau
  • Grand Cross (December 10, 2002)
• Order of the Three Stars
  • Grand Officer (November 2004)

References[link]

External links[link]

• W. Kok (Ministry of General Affairs)
• (Dutch) W. (Wim) Kok (Parlement & Politiek)

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Wim Kok

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Wim Kok

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