2006 VVD Leadership Election
The 2006 People's Party for Freedom and Democracy leadership election was called to elect the new Leader of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy after incumbent Jozias van Aartsen announced his retirement from national politics. Mark Rutte the State Secretary for Education, Culture and Science closely beat Rita Verdonk the Minister for Integration, Immigration and Asylum Affairs and backbencher Member of the House of Representatives Jelleke Veenendaal. Background After the 2006 municipal elections Jozias van Aartsen stepped down as Parliamentary leader in the House of Representatives and announced that he would not be top candidate for the next elections. The VVD leadership had consciously campaigned in the municipal election on a national ticket. The party however did not reach the set goal of 15% of the votes and actually lost 1.5% of the votes. To fill his position of political leader of the VVD, an internal election was scheduled. Candidates Candidates ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Gerrit Zalm
Gerrit Zalm (born 6 May 1952) is a retired Dutch politician of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) and businessman. Zalm studied Economics at the Free University Amsterdam obtaining a Master of Economics degree and worked as a civil servant for the Ministries of Finance, Economic Affairs and the Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis from June 1975 until August 1994 and worked as a professor of Political economy at his alma mater from January 1990 until August 1994. After the election of 1994 Zalm was appointed as Minister of Finance in the Cabinet Kok I taking office on 22 August 1994. After the election of 1998 Zalm continued his position in the Cabinet Kok II. After the election of 2002 Zalm was elected as a Member of the House of Representatives on 23 May 2002. Shortly after the election Party Leader and Parliamentary leader Hans Dijkstal announced he was stepping down and Zalm was anonymously selected as his successor as Leader on 16 May 2002 and b ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Ayaan Hirsi Ali
Ayaan Hirsi Ali (; ; Somali: ''Ayaan Xirsi Cali'':'' Ayān Ḥirsī 'Alī;'' born Ayaan Hirsi Magan, ar, أيان حرسي علي / ALA-LC: ''Ayān Ḥirsī 'Alī'' 13 November 1969) is a Somali-born Dutch-American activist and former politician. She is a critic of Islam and advocate for the rights and self-determination of Muslim women, opposing forced marriage, honor killing, child marriage, and female genital mutilation. She has founded an organisation for the defense of women's rights, the AHA Foundation. Ayaan Hirsi Ali works for the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, the American Enterprise Institute, and was a senior fellow at the Future of Democracy Project at Harvard Kennedy School. In 2003, Hirsi Ali was elected a member of the House of Representatives, the lower house of the States General of the Netherlands, representing the centre-right People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD). A political crisis related to the validity of her Dutch citizenship, ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Frans Weisglas
Frans Willy Weisglas (born 8 August 1946) is a retired Dutch politician, diplomat and economist. A member of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), he served as Speaker of the House of Representatives from 16 May 2002 until 30 November 2006. He was a member of the House of Representatives from 16 September 1982 until 30 November 2006. Biography Early life Weisglas studied economics at the Erasmus University, in Rotterdam, obtaining a degree in 1970. Politics After his graduation, he worked for some years for the Dutch foreign service, being part of the Permanent Mission of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to the United Nations (1970–1977). He then worked as a secretary to the Dutch Minister for Development Cooperation (1978–1981). In 1982, he became an elected member of the House of Representatives, where he focused on foreign and European affairs. In 2002, Weisglas was elected Speaker of the House, after Jeltje van Nieuwenhoven of the Labour Party stepped down ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Neelie Kroes
Neelie Kroes (; born 19 July 1941) is a retired Dutch politician of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) and businessperson who served as European Commissioner from 22 November 2004 to 1 November 2014. Kroes studied Economics at the Rotterdam School of Economics obtaining a Master of Economics degree. Kroes worked as a researcher at her alma mater from September 1963 to April 1968 and as a corporate director for a transport company in Delft from April 1968 until August 1971 and for the chamber of commerce of Rotterdam from July 1969 until August 1971. Kroes became a Member of the House of Representatives shortly after the election of 1971 on 3 August 1971 and served as a frontbencher and spokesperson for Transport and Education. After the election of 1977 Kroes was appointed as State Secretary for Transport and Water Management in the Cabinet Van Agt–Wiegel taking office on 28 December 1977. After the election of 1981 Kroes returned to the House of Repr ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Hans Wiegel
Hans Wiegel (; born 16 July 1941) is a retired Dutch politician of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) and businessperson. Wiegel studied Law at the University of Amsterdam before switching to Political science obtaining a Bachelor of Social Science degree and worked as a freelance political pundit from July 1965 until April 1967. Wiegel also served as Chairman of the political youth organisation JOVD from November 1965 until October 1966. Wiegel became a Member of the House of Representatives shortly after election of 1967 taking office on 18 April 1967 serving as a frontbencher and spokesperson for Local Government Affairs. After the election of 1971 Party Leader and Parliamentary leader Molly Geertsema was appointed as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior in the Cabinet Biesheuvel I announced he was stepping down and Wiegel was anonymously selected as his successor taking office on 1 July 1971. For the elections of 1972 and 1977 Wiegel served ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Frits Bolkestein
Frederik "Frits" Bolkestein (; born 4 April 1933) is a retired Dutch politician and businessman who served as Leader of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) from 1990 to 1998 and European Commissioner for Internal Market from 1999 until 2004 under Romano Prodi. Bolkestein studied Mathematics at the Oregon State University getting a Bachelor of Mathematics degree and continued his study at the University of Amsterdam obtaining a Master of Mathematics degree followed by a postgraduate education in Philosophy and Greek literature at his alma mater obtaining Masters of Philosophy and Arts degrees, followed by another postgraduate study in Economics at the London School of Economics obtaining a Master of Economics degree and additional study in Law at the Leiden University obtaining a Master of Laws degree. Bolkestein worked as a corporate director for Royal Dutch Shell from May 1960 until July 1976 and as a manager for an engineering company in Amsterdam from Sept ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Centre-right Politics
Centre-right politics lean to the right of the political spectrum, but are closer to the centre. From the 1780s to the 1880s, there was a shift in the Western world of social class structure and the economy, moving away from the nobility and mercantilism, towards capitalism. This general economic shift toward capitalism affected centre-right movements, such as the Conservative Party of the United Kingdom, which responded by becoming supportive of capitalism. The International Democrat Union is an alliance of centre-right (as well as some further right-wing) political parties – including the UK Conservative Party, the Conservative Party of Canada, the Republican Party of the United States, the Liberal Party of Australia, the New Zealand National Party and Christian democratic parties – which declares commitment to human rights as well as economic development. Ideologies characterised as centre-right include liberal conservatism and some variants of liberalism and Chr ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Liberalism
Liberalism is a political and moral philosophy based on the rights of the individual, liberty, consent of the governed, political equality and equality before the law."political rationalism, hostility to autocracy, cultural distaste for conservatism and for tradition in general, tolerance, and ... individualism". John Dunn. ''Western Political Theory in the Face of the Future'' (1993). Cambridge University Press. . Liberals espouse various views depending on their understanding of these principles. However, they generally support private property, market economies, individual rights (including civil rights and human rights), liberal democracy, secularism, rule of law, economic and political freedom, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of assembly, and freedom of religion. Liberalism is frequently cited as the dominant ideology of modern times.Wolfe, p. 23.Adams, p. 11. Liberalism became a distinct movement in the Age of Enlightenment, gaining popularity ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Hans Hoogervorst
Johannes Franciscus "Hans" Hoogervorst (born 19 April 1956) is a retired Dutch politician of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) and economist. He is the former chairman of the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) from 1 July 2011 through 30 June 2021. Hoogervorst attended a Gymnasium in Haarlem from June 1968 until June 1974 and applied at the University of Amsterdam in July 1974 majoring in Modern history and obtaining a Bachelor of Arts degree in June 1976 before graduating with a Master of Arts degree in July 1980. Hoogervorst applied at the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies of the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland in March 1981 for a postgraduate education in International relations obtaining a Master of Arts degree in July 1983. Hoogervorst worked as a financial analyst at the National Bank of Washington (NBW) in Washington, D.C. from August 1983 until March 1986 and as a civil servant for the Ministry of Finan ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Jan Van Zanen
Jan Hendrikus Cornelis van Zanen (born 4 September 1961) is a Dutch politician who has served as Mayor of The Hague since 1 July 2020. A member of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), he previously served as Mayor of Utrecht (2014–2020) and Amstelveen (2005–2013). Jan van Zanen also was national chairman of the VVD (2003–2008). He has been president of the Association of Netherlands Municipalities (VNG) since 3 June 2015. Career Van Zanen grew up in Edam-Volendam and was the national vice president of the Youth Organisation Freedom and Democracy (JOVD). He studied law at VU Amsterdam and at Cornell Law School of Cornell University in Ithaca (New York). Van Zanen completed his military service as a reserve officer with the Royal Netherlands Air Force. From 1991 to 1998, he served as the secretary of the executive board of the national entrepreneurs association, VOG. He represented the VVD in the municipal council of Utrecht from 1990 to 2002. Van Zanen was ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Ed Nijpels
Eduardus Hermannus Theresia Maria Nijpels (born 1 April 1950) is a Dutch politician of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) and nonprofit director. Nijpels studied Civil law at the Utrecht University obtaining a Master of Studies in Law degree. Nijpels served as Chairman of the political youth organisation JOVD from February 1974 until November 1975. Nijpels worked as a civics teacher in Roosendaal from August 1974 until June 1977. After the election of 1977 Nijpels was elected as a Member of the House of Representatives on 8 June 1977 serving as a frontbencher chairing the House Committee on Law enforcement and spokesperson for Justice and the Ombudsman. After the Party Leader and Parliamentary leader Hans Wiegel announced he was stepping down he endorsed Nijpels as his successor and he was anonymously selected as his successor on 20 April 1982. For the elections of 1982 Nijpels served as '' Lijsttrekker'' (top candidate) and following a cabinet formation ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |