Patrick Yvonne Hugo Dewael, (; born 13 October 1955) is a liberal Belgian politician. A member of the

Flemish Liberals and Democrats french: Libéraux et démocrates flamands ouverts , abbreviation = Open Vld , logo = , leader1_title = President , leader1_name = Egbert Lachaert , foundation = 1992 (VLD)2007 (Open Vld) , predecessor = P ...

(''Vlaamse Liberalen en Democraten'', VLD), he served as

Minister-President of Flanders The Minister-President of Flanders ( nl, Minister-president van Vlaanderen) is the head of the Flemish Government, which is the executive branch of the Flemish Region and Flemish Community.See the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium ...

from 1999 to 2003. He is the nephew of the late

Herman Vanderpoorten Herman Vanderpoorten (; 25 August 1922 – 3 September 1984) was a Belgian liberal politician. He was a son of the politician Arthur Vanderpoorten, the father of Marleen Vanderpoorten and an uncle of Patrick Dewael. Education He obtained a l ...

and the cousin of Marleen Vanderpoorten, who served as Minister of Education in the

Flemish Government The Flemish Government ( nl, Vlaamse regering ) is the executive branch of the Flemish Community and the Flemish Region of Belgium. It consists of a government cabinet, headed by the Minister-President and accountable to the Flemish Parliament, an ...

led by Dewael. He obtained a degree in law and notariat from the

Vrije Universiteit Brussel The Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) () is a Dutch and English-speaking research university located in Brussels, Belgium.The Vrije Universiteit Brussel is one of the five universities officially recognised by the Flemish government. listof a ...

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

. Dewael served as the President of the Chamber of Representatives from 2019 to 2020 and previously from 2008 to 2010.

Political career

He was first elected to the Belgian Parliament in 1985. From 1985 to 1992 Dewael served for the PVV as Flemish minister of Culture in the governments led by Gaston Geens (II, III and IV). After the defeat of the liberals at the 1992 elections, Dewael served as an opposition MP until the liberals regained power in 1999. He was

Minister-President A minister-president or minister president is the head of government in a number of European countries or subnational governments with a parliamentary or semi-presidential system of government where they preside over the council of ministers. It ...

of the regional government of Flanders from 1999 to 2003. After the Federal elections of 2003, Dewael resigned as

minister-president A minister-president or minister president is the head of government in a number of European countries or subnational governments with a parliamentary or semi-presidential system of government where they preside over the council of ministers. It ...

in order to serve as deputy prime minister and minister of the interior in the

Belgian Federal government The Federal Government of Belgium ( nl, Federale regering, french: Gouvernement fédéral, german: Föderalregierung) exercises executive power in the Kingdom of Belgium. It consists of ministers and secretary of state ("junior", or deputy-mini ...

led by

Guy Verhofstadt Guy Maurice Marie Louise Verhofstadt (; ; born 11 April 1953) is a Belgian politician who was the leader of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe from 2009 to 2019, and has been a member of the European Parliament (MEP) from Belgium ...

. When Kurdish militant Fehriye Erdal was sentenced to 4 years' imprisonment by a

Bruges Bruges ( , nl, Brugge ) is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium, in the northwest of the country, and the sixth-largest city of the country by population. The area of the whole city ...

court on 28 February 2006, it turned out that she had shaken off the Belgian

secret service A secret service is a government agency, intelligence agency, or the activities of a government agency, concerned with the gathering of intelligence data. The tasks and powers of a secret service can vary greatly from one country to another. For ...

, which had had the responsibility of following her since 23 February 2006 (Erdal had been under house arrest since 2000). Both the Minister of Justice,

Laurette Onkelinx Laurette A. J. Onkelinx (born 2 October 1958) is a Belgian politician from the Francophone Socialist Party. She was the Deputy Prime Minister – Minister of Social Affairs and Public Health in the Belgian federal government, i.e., the Di Rupo G ...

, and the Minister of the Interior, Patrick Dewael came under fire for this incident. He was deputy prime minister and minister for interior in the Leterme I Government, which took office on 20 March 2008. On 31 December 2008, he became president of the Chamber of Representatives. He was replaced as

interior minister An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergenc ...

by Guido De Padt.

Private life

Patrick Dewael lives in

Tongeren Tongeren (; french: Tongres ; german: Tongern ; li, Tóngere ) is a city and municipality located in the Belgian province of Limburg, in the southeastern corner of the Flemish region of Belgium. Tongeren is the oldest town in Belgium, as the ...

, a town of which he is also the

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 ...

. Patrick Dewael was married to Marleen Van Doren, with whom he has three children. On 24 August 2005 Dewael released a press communiqué in which he announced that he was leaving his wife for VRT journalist . On 19 July 2019 he married Op de Beeck.

Honours

* 2014 : Knight Grand Cross in the

Order of Leopold II The Order of Leopold II is an order of Belgium and is named in honor of King Leopold II. The decoration was established on 24 August 1900 by Leopold II as Sovereign of the Congo Free State and was in 1908, upon Congo being handed over to Belgiu ...

. * 2002 : Knight Grand Cross

Order of Merit of the Italian Republic The Order of Merit of the Italian Republic ( it, Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana) is the senior Italian order of merit. It was established in 1951 by the second President of the Italian Republic, Luigi Einaudi. The highest-ranking ...

, decree of 14/10/2002

References

External links

Patrick Dewael
(Official website) , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Dewael, Patrick 1955 births Belgian Ministers of State Vrije Universiteit Brussel alumni Living people Presidents of the Chamber of Representatives (Belgium) Members of the Belgian Federal Parliament Ministers-President of Flanders Open Vlaamse Liberalen en Democraten politicians People from Lier, Belgium Recipients of the Grand Cross of the Order of Leopold II 21st-century Belgian politicians