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Ivo Willem Opstelten (born 31 January 1944) is a retired Dutch politician and jurist. He is a member of the
People's Party for Freedom and Democracy The People's Party for Freedom and Democracy ( nl, Volkspartij voor Vrijheid en Democratie ; VVD) is a conservative-liberal Andeweg, R. and G. Irwin ''Politics and Governance in the Netherlands'', Basingstoke (Palgrave) p.49 political party in ...
(VVD). Opstelten applied at
Leiden University Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; nl, Universiteit Leiden) is a Public university, public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. The university was founded as a Protestant university in 1575 by William the Silent, William, Prince o ...
in May 1963 majoring in
Law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...
and obtaining an
Bachelor of Laws Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...
degree in June 1965 before graduating with a
Master of Laws A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is an advanced postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in a related subject. In mos ...
degree in July 1969. Opstelten worked as a civil servant for the municipality of
Vlaardingen Vlaardingen () is a city in South Holland in the Netherlands. It is located on the north bank of the Nieuwe Maas river at the confluence with the Oude Maas. The municipality administers an area of , of which is land, with residents in . Geogr ...
from January 1970 until Augustus 1972. In Augustus 1972 Opstelten was nominated as Mayor of Dalen, taking office on 26 August 1972. In September 1977 Opstelten was nominated as Mayor of Doorn, he resigned as Mayor of Dalen the same day he was installed as Mayor of Doorn, taking office on 1 October 1977. In November 1980 Opstelten was nominated as Mayor of Delfzijl, he resigned as Mayor of Doorn the same day he was installed as Mayor of Delfzijl, taking office on 1 December 1980. Opstelten served as acting Mayor of Beerta from 1 December 1983 until 1 March 1984 during a
parental leave Parental leave, or family leave, is an employee benefit available in almost all countries. The term "parental leave" may include maternity, Paternity (law), paternity, and adoption leave; or may be used distinctively from "maternity leave" an ...
of
Hanneke Jagersma Johanna "Hanneke" Jagersma (; born 1 November 1951) is a Dutch former politician. She was member of the Communist Party of the Netherlands from 1974 to 1989 and mayor of Beerta from 1982 to 1990. She now works for Humanitas, a Dutch care organis ...
. In August 1987 Opstelten was appointment as Director-General of the department for Public Safety and Security of the
Ministry of the Interior An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs. Lists of current ministries of internal affairs Named "ministry" * Ministry ...
, he resigned as Mayor of Delfzijl of the same day he was installed as Director-General on 1 September 1987. In October 1992 Opstelten was nominated as Mayor of Utrecht, he resigned as Director-General the same day he was installed as Mayor of Utrecht, taking office on 1 November 1992. In January 1999 Opstelten was nominated as Mayor of Rotterdam, he resigned as Mayor of Utrecht the same day he was installed as Mayor of Rotterdam, serving from 16 February 1999 until 1 January 2009. Opstelten served as
Chairmen of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy The Chair of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy is the party chair, chief administrator and manager of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy ( nl, Volkspartij voor Vrijheid en Democratie, VVD) in the Netherlands. The current chai ...
from 23 May 2008 until 14 October 2010. Opstelten served as acting Mayor of Tilburg from 4 November 2009 until 16 July 2010 following the resignation of Ruud Vreeman. After the election of 2010 Opstelten was appointed as
Informateur A formateur (French for "someone who forms, who constitutes") is a politician who is appointed to lead the formation of a coalition government, after either a general election or the collapse of a previous government. The role of the formateur i ...
for the cabinet formation of 2010. Following the
cabinet formation Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...
Opstelten was appointed as Minister of Security and Justice in the Cabinet Rutte I, taking office on 14 October 2010. The Cabinet Rutte I fell on 23 April 2012 after the
Party for Freedom The Party for Freedom ( nl, Partij voor de Vrijheid, PVV) is a nationalist, right-wing populist political party in the Netherlands. Founded in 2006 as the successor to Geert Wilders' one-man faction in the House of Representatives, it won nine ...
(PVV) withdrew their
confidence and supply In a parliamentary democracy based on the Westminster system, confidence and supply are required for a ruling cabinet to retain power in the lower house. A confidence-and-supply agreement is one whereby a party or independent members of parl ...
and continued to serve in a demissionary capacity. In May 2012 Opstelten announced that he wouldn't stand for the election of 2012. Following the cabinet formation of 2012 Opstelten continued as Minister of Security and Justice in the Cabinet Rutte II, taking office on 5 November 2012. On 10 March 2015 Opstelten and State Secretary for Security and Justice
Fred Teeven Fredrik "Fred" Teeven (born 5 August 1958) is a Dutch jurist, bus driver and former politician and prosecutor. A member of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), he served as State Secretary at the Ministry of Security and Justice f ...
resigned after he had misinformed the
House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...
about the that was mishandled by Teeven during the time he had served as a prosecutor. Opstelten retired after spending 42 years in national politics and became active in the
public sector The public sector, also called the state sector, is the part of the economy composed of both public services and public enterprises. Public sectors include the public goods and governmental services such as the military, law enforcement, infra ...
and occupied numerous seats as a corporate director and nonprofit director on several boards of directors and supervisory boards.


Biography


Early life

Opstelten studied law at
Leiden University Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; nl, Universiteit Leiden) is a Public university, public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. The university was founded as a Protestant university in 1575 by William the Silent, William, Prince o ...
, where he specialised in constitutional and public law. He graduated in 1969 and worked from 1970 to 1972 at the municipality of
Vlaardingen Vlaardingen () is a city in South Holland in the Netherlands. It is located on the north bank of the Nieuwe Maas river at the confluence with the Oude Maas. The municipality administers an area of , of which is land, with residents in . Geogr ...
before starting a long-term career as mayor.


Politics

In 1972 Opstelten began as Mayor of Dalen, at the age of 28 the youngest Mayor of the Netherlands. In 1977 he became Mayor of Doorn. In 1980 he became the Mayor of Delfzijl. In 1983 he became Acting Mayor of Beerta for four months because of the pregnancy of Mayor Hanneke Jagersma. In 1992 he made the switch to the fourth largest
Municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...
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 ...
, Utrecht. In 1999 he was nominated as Mayor of Rotterdam, the second biggest city of the Netherlands. In 2002 he was praised for his handling of the aftermath of the
assassination Assassination is the murder of a prominent or important person, such as a head of state, head of government, politician, world leader, member of a royal family or CEO. The murder of a celebrity, activist, or artist, though they may not have ...
of politician
Pim Fortuyn Wilhelmus Simon Petrus Fortuijn, known as Pim Fortuyn (; 19 February 1948 – 6 May 2002), was a Dutch politician, author, civil servant, businessman, sociologist and academic who founded the party Pim Fortuyn List (Lijst Pim Fortuyn or LPF) ...
. He served as Mayor of Rotterdam for ten years. He resigned on 1 January 2009. He was succeeded by Ahmed Aboutaleb. On 31 March 2008 he was elected as the new Party chair of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy. On 6 November 2009 it was announced by
Wim van de Donk Wilhelmus Bernhard Henricus Josephus "Wim" van de Donk (born 17 May 1962) is a Dutch former politician and former academic, who served as the King's Commissioner of North Brabant from 1 October 2009 to 1 October 2020. He is a member of the Chr ...
, the Queen's Commissioner of
North Brabant North Brabant ( nl, Noord-Brabant ; Brabantian: ; ), also unofficially called Brabant, is a province in the south of the Netherlands. It borders the provinces of South Holland and Gelderland to the north, Limburg to the east, Zeeland to the we ...
, that Opstelten had accepted the position as Acting Mayor of Tilburg after Mayor Ruud Vreeman's resignation was sought by the
City council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counc ...
of Tilburg. On 4 August 2010
Queen Beatrix Beatrix (Beatrix Wilhelmina Armgard, ; born 31 January 1938) is a member of the Dutch royal house who reigned as Queen of the Netherlands from 1980 until her abdication in 2013. Beatrix is the eldest daughter of Queen Juliana and her husband ...
nominated Opstelten as fifth
informateur A formateur (French for "someone who forms, who constitutes") is a politician who is appointed to lead the formation of a coalition government, after either a general election or the collapse of a previous government. The role of the formateur i ...
in the
2010 Dutch cabinet formation Following the Dutch general election of 2010, held on 9 June, a process of cabinet formation started, which typically involves three phases: # exploring with which parties to form a coalition, # negotiating to draft a coalition agreement (Dutch: ...
. On September 4, the Queen replaced Opstelten with
Herman Tjeenk Willink Herman Diederik Tjeenk Willink (born 23 January 1942) is a retired Dutch politician of the Labour Party (PvdA) and jurist. He was granted the honorary title of Minister of State on 21 December 2012. Tjeenk Willink served as a Member of the S ...
, the Vice President of the Council of State as the new informateur. On 13 September 2010 he became
informateur A formateur (French for "someone who forms, who constitutes") is a politician who is appointed to lead the formation of a coalition government, after either a general election or the collapse of a previous government. The role of the formateur i ...
a second time and on September 28 the negotiations were finished. A coalition agreement was reached between People's Party for Freedom and Democracy and
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 ...
to form a minority coalition, supported by the
Party for Freedom The Party for Freedom ( nl, Partij voor de Vrijheid, PVV) is a nationalist, right-wing populist political party in the Netherlands. Founded in 2006 as the successor to Geert Wilders' one-man faction in the House of Representatives, it won nine ...
to obtain a majority.
Formateur A formateur (French for "someone who forms, who constitutes") is a politician who is appointed to lead the formation of a coalition government, after either a general election or the collapse of a previous government. The role of the formateur is ...
Mark Rutte Mark Rutte (; born 14 February 1967) is a Dutch politician who has served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands since 2010 and Leader of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) since 2006. After a business career working for Unilever ...
asked Opstelten as the Minister of Security and Justice in the new
cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...
. Because a Party chair can not serve in the
cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...
, he resigned as a Party chair of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy on 14 October 2010, the day he took office as the new Minister of Security and Justice. During his tenure as Minister of Security and Justice, Opstelten was the driving force behind the closure of the majority of The Netherlands' coffeeshops and growshops effectively ending the successful 1970's instituted experiment where soft drugs were tolerated and separated from the hard drugs market. Affiliated with the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) party, Opstelten also imposed many restrictions on the legal and regulated prostitution business in the Netherlands also driving a portion of that business underground.Dutch justice minister, deputy resign over drugs dealer cash deal
DutchNews, 9 March 2015 In the week after his resignation from office, he was interviewed about the increased use of heavy firearms by criminals. He said that maybe in the past firearms didn't have the attention of the authorities, but now they rose to the challenge and he was on it. In reality he had quietly disbanded the task force on heavy weapons two months earlier.


Resignation from office

On 10 March 2015 Opstelten, along with State Secretary
Fred Teeven Fredrik "Fred" Teeven (born 5 August 1958) is a Dutch jurist, bus driver and former politician and prosecutor. A member of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), he served as State Secretary at the Ministry of Security and Justice f ...
resigned after it was discovered that Teeven, then chief public prosecutor authorized the return of 4.7 million guilders to convicted drugs dealer Cees H. in 2000, without the knowledge of his superior or the tax office. Throughout 2014, questions had been asked about this drugs deal. Opstelten consistently told parliament that the deal was for 2 million guilders and that they should trust him on that. On March 4, news show Nieuwsuur uncovered evidence that it was actually 4.7 million guilders. Cees H. confirmed this and stated that he did not do the justice department any favor in return, such as testifying. During a press conference on March 9, Opstelten admitted that convicted drugs baron Cees H. had been paid 4.7 million guilders, not the two million guilders he had consistently told parliament. The next day he resigned. Other politicians were disappointed that he left many questions unanswered by resigning, such as how he could not know the amount despite the deal being orchestrated by his own deputy minister and why the tax service was not involved in the deal. Preceding the affair which resulted in his resignation, Opstelten was already often accused of not knowing the facts during debates and having difficulty finding words in other cases.


Personal

Ivo Opstelten is married to Mariette Dutilh (born 1945) and they have four children.


Decorations


References


External links

;Official *
Mr. I.W. (Ivo) Opstelten
Parlement & Politiek {{DEFAULTSORT:Opstelten, Ivo 1944 births Living people Chairmen of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy Dutch nonprofit directors Dutch television presenters Leiden University alumni Mayors in Groningen (province) Mayors in Drenthe Mayors in Utrecht (province) People from Doorn People from Delfzijl Mayors of Rotterdam Mayors in North Brabant People from Tilburg Mayors of Utrecht Ministers of Justice of the Netherlands Officers of the Order of Orange-Nassau Vice Chairmen of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy People's Party for Freedom and Democracy politicians Remonstrants 20th-century Dutch civil servants 20th-century Dutch jurists 20th-century Dutch politicians 21st-century Dutch civil servants 21st-century Dutch jurists 21st-century Dutch politicians