Malik Azmani (born 20 January 1976) is a Dutch politician and former lawyer and civil servant. A member of the

People's Party for Freedom and Democracy The People's Party for Freedom and Democracy ( , VVD) is a Conservative liberalism, conservative-liberal List of political parties in the Netherlands, political party in the Netherlands. The VVD, whose forerunner was the Freedom Party (Netherl ...

(VVD), which he led in the

2019 European Parliament election The 2019 European Parliament election was held in the European Union (EU) between 23 and 26 May 2019. It was the ninth parliamentary election since the first direct elections in 1979. A total of 751 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) we ...

, he has served as a

Member of the European Parliament A member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been Election, elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the European Coal and S ...

(MEP) since then. Azmani was first elected to the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

Early life and career

A native of

Heerenveen Heerenveen (, ) is a town and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Friesland (Fryslân), in the Northern Netherlands. In 2021, the town had a population of 29,790 (1 January) while the m ...

, Azmani is of Moroccan descent through his father and of Frisian descent through his mother. Before making a career at the Immigration and Naturalisation Service (IND), he studied law at the

University of Groningen The University of Groningen (abbreviated as UG; , abbreviated as RUG) is a Public university#Continental Europe, public research university of more than 30,000 students in the city of Groningen (city), Groningen, Netherlands. Founded in 1614, th ...

Political career

Career in national politics, 2010–2019

As a member of the

, Azmani was a member of the

from 2010 until 2019. He was also a member of the

municipal 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, borough cou ...

Ommen Ommen () is a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality and a Hanseatic League, Hanseatic city in the eastern Netherlands. It is located in the Vechte, Vecht valley of the Salland region in Overijssel. Historical records first name Ommen in ...

from 2010 until 2014. In his political work, he primarily focused on migration and asylum, human trafficking and prostitution, as well as the Intelligence and Security Services Act (Wiv). Furthermore, from 2014 until August 2018, Azmani chaired the Committee on European Affairs in the House of Representatives. In addition to his role in parliament, Azmani served as member of the Dutch delegation to the

Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) is the parliamentary arm of the Council of Europe, a 46-nation international organisation dedicated to upholding human rights, democracy and the rule of law. The Assembly is made up of ...

from 2013 until 2016.

Member of the European Parliament, 2019–present

In October 2018, Azmani was (unopposed) elected as the official leading candidate for the VVD in the

European Parliament elections Elections to the European Parliament take place every five years by Universal suffrage, universal adult suffrage; with more than 400 million people eligible to vote, they are the second largest democratic elections in the world after Electio ...

. Following the elections, Azmani was part of a cross-party working group in charge of drafting the European Parliament's four-year work program on rule of law, borders and migration. In parliament, Azmani has since been serving as deputy chairman of the

Renew Europe Renew Europe (or simply Renew) is a liberal, centrist to centre-right, pro-European political group of the European Parliament founded for the ninth European Parliament term. The group is the successor to the Alliance of Liberals and Dem ...

group, initially under the leadership of chairman

Dacian Cioloș Dacian Julien Cioloș (; born 27 July 1969) is a Romanian Agronomy, agronomist who served as Prime Minister of Romania from November 2015 to January 2017. He previously served as Ministry of Agriculture, Forests and Rural Development (Romania), A ...

. He is also a member of the

Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly or other form of organization. A committee may not itself be considered to be a form of assembly or a decision-making body. Usually, an assembly o ...

and a substitute member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs. In 2021, he joined the parliament's working group on

Frontex The European Border and Coast Guard Agency, commonly known as Frontex (from French ''frontières extérieures'', "external borders"), is an agency of the European Union headquartered in Warsaw, Poland. In coordination with the border and coast gu ...

, led by

Roberta Metsola Roberta Metsola (; ; born 18 January 1979) is a Malta, Maltese politician who has served as the president of the European Parliament since January 2022. She is a member of Malta's Nationalist Party (Malta), Nationalist Party (PN) and the European ...

. Since 2021, Azmani has been part of the Parliament's delegation to the Conference on the Future of Europe. In addition to his committee assignments, Azmani is part of the Parliament's delegations for relations with the

Maghreb The Maghreb (; ), also known as the Arab Maghreb () and Northwest Africa, is the western part of the Arab world. The region comprises western and central North Africa, including Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, and Tunisia. The Maghreb al ...

countries and the

Arab Maghreb Union The Arab Maghreb Union ( '; AMU/UMA) is a political union and economic union trade agreement aiming for economic and future political unity among Arab countries that are located primarily in the Maghreb in North Africa. Its members are the natio ...

as well as to the Parliamentary Assembly of the

Union for the Mediterranean The Union for the Mediterranean (UfM; , ''Al-Ittiḥād min ajl al-Mutawasseṭ'') is an intergovernmental organization of 43 member states from Europe and the Mediterranean Basin: the 27 Member state of the European Union, EU member states (i ...

. He is also a member of the

European Parliament Intergroup on LGBT Rights The European Parliament Intergroup on LGBTI Rights is an intergroup of the European Parliament's legislators which focuses on the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) persons both inside and outside the European Uni ...

. As deputy leader of Renew Europe, Azmani took over leadership of the group for two weeks in January 2024 when

Stéphane Séjourné Stéphane Séjourné (; born 26 March 1985) is a French politician of Renaissance who currently serves as Executive Vice-President of the European Commission for Prosperity and Industrial Strategy. He served as Minister for Europe and Foreign ...

stepped down from the European Parliament to serve as Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs in France. Azmani decided to not apply for the permanent chairmanship. Newspaper ''

Trouw ''Trouw'' (; ) is a Dutch daily newspaper appearing in compact size. It was founded in 1943 as an orthodox Protestant underground newspaper during World War II. Since 2009, it has been owned by DPG Media (known as De Persgroep until 2019). '' ...

'' reported that his potential candidacy was controversial due to the VVD's willingness to negotiate with the right-wing populist

Party for Freedom The Party for Freedom ( , PVV) is a right-wing populist, far-right political party in the Netherlands. Geert Wilders is the founder, party leader, and sole registered member of the party. Founded in 2006 as the successor to Wilders' one-ma ...

as part of the 2023–2024 cabinet formation. He was re-elected in June 2024 as the VVD's

lead candidate In politics, a lead candidate (; , ) is the candidate placed first on a party list. In parliamentary systems, it is often the party's nominee for the position of head of government, and the party chair or party leader. Usage by country Neth ...

, when the party won four seats. Azmani was succeeded as deputy leader by Billy Kelleher, but he remained part of Renew Europe's bureau. He has also served as vice president of the

ALDE Party The Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party (ALDE Party) is a European political party composed of 76 national-level parties from across Europe, mainly active in the European Union. The ALDE Party is affiliated with Liberal Interna ...

, and his focus in the parliament is on justice, security, migration, and foreign affairs.

Electoral history

References

Sources

*
Biography
parlement.com. Accessed 29 June 2023.

External links

*
Malik Azmani
personal website {{DEFAULTSORT:Azmani, Malik 1976 births Living people 21st-century Dutch civil servants 21st-century Dutch lawyers Dutch people of Frisian descent Dutch people of Moroccan descent Dutch MPs 2017–2021 Dutch MPs 2010–2012 Dutch MPs 2012–2017 MEPs for the Netherlands 2019–2024 Municipal councillors in Overijssel People from Heerenveen People from Ommen People's Party for Freedom and Democracy politicians University of Groningen alumni MEPs for the Netherlands 2024–2029