Gerardus Bernardus Maria "Gerd" Leers (born 12 July 1951) is a Dutch politician of the

Christian Democratic Appeal The Christian Democratic Appeal ( nl, Christen-Democratisch Appèl, ; CDA) is a Christian-democratic political party in the Netherlands. It was originally formed in 1977 from a confederation of the Catholic People's Party, the Anti-Revolutionary ...

(CDA) party. He is the acting Mayor of Brunssum since 1 January 2018.

Biography

Politics

On 4 September 1990 Leers became a Member of the House of Representatives. He was a member of the permanent parliamentary commission for transport and water management. The political peak in his House of Representatives period was the Betuwe route, of which Leers was a strong proponent. However, he was also involved in a construction fraud scandal. Leers became

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

Maastricht Maastricht ( , , ; li, Mestreech ; french: Maestricht ; es, Mastrique ) is a city and a municipality in the southeastern Netherlands. It is the capital and largest city of the province of Limburg. Maastricht is located on both sides of the ...

on 1 February 2002 after

Karl Dittrich Karl may refer to: People * Karl (given name), including a list of people and characters with the name * Karl der Große, commonly known in English as Charlemagne * Karl Marx, German philosopher and political writer * Karl of Austria, last Austria ...

withdrew his candidacy. In 2008, he stood for mayor of

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital of ...

and of

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...

. As mayor Leers took strict measures, such as the raid on the travellers camp Vinkenslag and stopping the subsidy to the football club MVV. He also was against amnesty for failed asylum seekers. In late 2004 Leers was chosen as best mayor of the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. This choice came after a conflict with the civil service, after heavy criticism from Leers. Leers also gained attention for his attitude with respect to the

policy Policy is a deliberate system of guidelines to guide decisions and achieve rational outcomes. A policy is a statement of intent and is implemented as a procedure or protocol. Policies are generally adopted by a governance body within an organ ...

on soft drugs. He criticised the tolerance policy that permits consumption and sale of

marihuana Cannabis, also known as marijuana among other names, is a psychoactive drug from the cannabis plant. Native to Central or South Asia, the cannabis plant has been used as a drug for both recreational and entheogenic purposes and in various tra ...

and

hashish Hashish ( ar, حشيش, ()), also known as hash, "dry herb, hay" is a drug made by compressing and processing parts of the cannabis plant, typically focusing on flowering buds (female flowers) containing the most trichomes. European Monitorin ...

, but prohibits its growing. Leers argued for legal production under government supervision, which would supposedly improve quality and therefore the public health . Leers also proposed the construction of a "weed boulevard" on the south side of

, so that drugs tourists would no longer cause trouble in the city centre. However, this proposal was rejected. In January 2010, he resigned from office after an affair concerning a holiday villa project in Byala,

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

. It was alleged that he was involved in shady deals to raise the value of villas he had ownership of. On 14 October 2010 he became the new Minister for Immigration and Asylum Affairs in the

first Rutte cabinet The first Rutte cabinet, also called the Rutte–Verhagen cabinet was the executive branch of the Government of the Netherlands from 14 October 2010 until 5 November 2012. The cabinet was formed by the conservative-liberal People's Party for ...

Decorations

References

External links

;Official *
Drs. G.B.M. (Gerd) Leers
Parlement & Politiek {{DEFAULTSORT:Leers, Gerd 1951 births Living people Catholic People's Party politicians Christian Democratic Appeal politicians Dutch accountants Dutch management consultants Dutch Roman Catholics Mayors in Limburg (Netherlands) People from Brunssum Mayors of Maastricht Members of the House of Representatives (Netherlands) Ministers without portfolio of the Netherlands Municipal councillors in North Brabant Officers of the Order of Orange-Nassau People from Kerkrade Politicians from Maastricht Radboud University Nijmegen alumni University of Central Missouri alumni 20th-century Dutch civil servants 20th-century Dutch politicians 21st-century Dutch politicians