Jan Peter Peumans (born 6 January 1951 in

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 ...

) is a Belgian politician from the

Flemish Flemish (''Vlaams'') is a Low Franconian dialect cluster of the Dutch language. It is sometimes referred to as Flemish Dutch (), Belgian Dutch ( ), or Southern Dutch (). Flemish is native to Flanders, a historical region in northern Belgium; ...

province of Limburg. Being part of the Flemish Movement, he was at a young age already member of the

Volksunie People's Union ( nl, Volksunie, VU) was a Flemish nationalist political party in Belgium, formed in 1954 as a successor to the Christian Flemish People's Union. The Volksunie defined itself as a big tent and catch-all party that combined suppor ...

. He seated for that party in the Limburgish provincial council and is since 2004 a

Flemish Parliament The Flemish Parliament (Dutch: , formerly called Flemish Council or ''Vlaamse Raad'') constitutes the legislative power in Flanders for matters which fall within the competence of Flanders, both as a geographic region and as a cultural communi ...

member for the

New Flemish Alliance The New Flemish Alliance ( nl, Nieuw-Vlaamse Alliantie, N-VA) is a Flemish nationalist and conservative political party in Belgium. The party was founded in 2001 by the right-leaning fraction of the centrist-nationalist People's Union (VU). T ...

(N-VA). From 2007 until 2009 he was N-VA fraction leader in the Flemish Parliament. After the elections of 7 June 2009 (which was successful for his party; and with more than 27.000 Limburgish preference votes for him), he became President of the

, succeeding

Marleen Vanderpoorten Marleen Caroline Valère Vanderpoorten (born 21 July 1954) Belgian politician from Flanders and member of the Flemish Liberals and Democrats (VLD). She is a daughter of Herman Vanderpoorten and a granddaughter of Arthur Vanderpoorten. She obtai ...

. In the Flemish Parliament, he worked e.g. on the case of the

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

Oosterweel connection. Peumans was elected most hard-working member of the Parliament in the period 2004–2009, by the newspaper

De Standaard ''De Standaard'' (meaning ''The Standard'' in English) is a Flemish daily newspaper published in Belgium by Mediahuis (formerly Corelio and VUM). It was traditionally a Christian-Democratic paper, associated with the Christian-Democratic and F ...

. On 27 January 2010, Peumans caused controversy after he was absent during a reception at the royal palace. As convinced republican he refuses to go to receptions at the king's palace, although he talked to him once on the occasion of the

day of the Flemish Community The Day of the Flemish Community of Belgium ( nl, Feestdag van de Vlaamse Gemeenschap) is an annual commemoration in the Flemish Community in Belgium on 11 July which marks the anniversary of the Battle of the Golden Spurs (''Guldensporenslag'') i ...

. On 12 September 2010, he was in

Visé Visé (; nl, Wezet, ; wa, Vizé) is a city and municipality of Wallonia, located on the river Meuse in the province of Liège, Belgium. The municipality consists of the following districts: Argenteau, Cheratte, Lanaye, Lixhe, Richelle, ...

(just across the language border in Wallonia, close to where he lives), where he claims to have been insulted and attacked by a local because "he had no business in Wallonia". Peumans said afterwards he never expected he would be attacked due to his political points of view. His statement is being disputed by the alleged attacker.Aggression de Jan Peumans: l'auteur présumé dément
(French)

Political career

*1983–1994: Schepen in

Riemst Riemst (; li, Riems) is a small town and a municipality in the Belgian province of Limburg. Riemst is in the Flemish speaking area of Belgium. On January 1, 2018 Riemst had a total population of 16,665. The total area is 57.88 km² which gi ...

*1985–1987: Councillor in Limburg *1991–2004: Councillor in Limburg *1995–2006: Mayor of

*2004–2019: Member of the

*2007–2012: Schepen in

*2007–2009: Parliamentary group leader for the New Flemish Alliance in the Flemish Parliament *2008–2009: Vice President New Flemish Alliance *2009–2019: President of the Flemish Parliament

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Peumans, Jan 1951 births Flemish politicians Living people Members of the Flemish Parliament New Flemish Alliance politicians Politicians from Maastricht KU Leuven alumni 21st-century Belgian politicians