Henri Frans "Hans" Dijkstal (28 February 1943 – 9 May 2010) was a Dutch politician 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 i ...

(VVD) and financial adviser.

Early life, education, military service and early career

Dijkstal was born in

Port Said Port Said ( ar, بورسعيد, Būrsaʿīd, ; grc, Πηλούσιον, Pēlousion) is a city that lies in northeast Egypt extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, north of the Suez Canal. With an approximate population of 6 ...

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning the North Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via a land bridg ...

, where his father and grandfather worked in

shipping Freight transport, also referred as ''Freight Forwarding'', is the physical process of transporting commodities and merchandise goods and cargo. The term shipping originally referred to transport by sea but in American English, it has been ...

. He was able to speak fluent

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

before moving to the Netherlands at age five. Dijkstal applied at the

University of Amsterdam The University of Amsterdam (abbreviated as UvA, nl, Universiteit van Amsterdam) is a public research university located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The UvA is one of two large, publicly funded research universities in the city, the other being ...

in March 1961 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 Ch ...

degree in June 1964. Dijkstal was

conscripted Conscription (also called the draft in the United States) is the state-mandated enlistment of people in a national service, mainly a military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it continues in some countries to the present day und ...

in the

Royal Netherlands Air Force , colours = , colours_label = , march = ''Parade March of the Royal Netherlands Air Force'' , mascot = , anniversaries = , equipment ...

serving as a

Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...

and was stationed at the

Air Operations Control Station Nieuw-Milligen The Air Operations Control Station Nieuw-Milligen (AOCS NM) of the Royal Netherlands Air Force is located near Nieuw-Milligen (in the municipality of Apeldoorn). It is home to: *the 710th Sqn. Control & Reporting Centre Squadron (CRC) *the 711th ...

as an

air traffic controller Air traffic control specialists, abbreviated ATCS, are personnel responsible for the safe, orderly, and expeditious flow of air traffic in the global air traffic control system. Usually stationed in air traffic control centers and control ...

from April 1965 until May 1967. Dijkstal worked as a financial adviser, management consultant and civics teacher in

Wassenaar Wassenaar (; population: in ) is a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality and Dorp (town), town located in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, on the western coast of the Netherlands. An affluent suburb of The ...

from August 1967 until November 1982. Dijkstal served on 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, rural counc ...

of Wassenaar from May 1974 until April 1986 and served as an

alderman An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council member chosen by the elected members ...

in Wassenaar from March 1978 until July 1983.

National politics

Dijkstal became a Member of the House of Representatives after Wim van Eekelen was appointed as State Secretary for Foreign Affairs in the Cabinet Lubbers I after the election of 1982, serving from 11 November 1982 until 3 June 1986. Dijkstal returned as a Member of the House of Representatives after

Ed Nijpels Eduardus Hermannus Theresia Maria Nijpels (born 1 April 1950) is a Dutch politician of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) and nonprofit director. Nijpels studied Civil law at the Utrecht University obtaining a Master of Studies ...

was appointed as Minister of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment in the Cabinet Lubbers II after the election of 1986, taking office on 30 July 1986 serving as a

frontbencher In many parliaments and other similar assemblies, seating is typically arranged in banks or rows, with each political party or caucus grouped together. The spokespeople for each group will often sit at the front of their group, and are then kn ...

chairing the parliamentary committee for Petitions and the Citizen Initiatives and

spokesperson A spokesperson, spokesman, or spokeswoman, is someone engaged or elected to speak on behalf of others. Duties and function In the present media-sensitive world, many organizations are increasingly likely to employ professionals who have receiv ...

for Minorities and

Welfare Welfare, or commonly social welfare, is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specifical ...

. After the election of 1994 Dijkstal was appointed as

Deputy Prime Minister A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to that of a vice president ...

and

Minister of the Interior 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, emergency ...

in the Cabinet Kok I, taking office on 22 August 1994. After the election of 1998 Dijkstal returned as a Member of the House of Representatives, taking office on 19 May 1998. Following the cabinet formation of 1998 Dijkstal per his own request asked not to be considered for a cabinet post in the new cabinet, he was seen by the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy leadership as the ''

favorite son Favorite son (or favorite daughter) is a political term. * At the quadrennial American national political party conventions, a state delegation sometimes nominates a candidate from the state, or less often from the state's region, who is not a ...

'' to succeed Frits Bolkenstein as the next

Leader of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy The Leader of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy is the most senior politician within the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy ( nl, Volkspartij voor Vrijheid en Democratie, VVD) in the Netherlands. The post is currently held by Mar ...

. In July 1998 the Leader of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy and

Parliamentary leader A parliamentary leader is a political title or a descriptive term used in various countries to designate the person leading a parliamentary group or caucus in a legislative body, whether it be a national or sub-national legislature. They are their ...

of the Party for Freedom and Democracy in the House of Representatives Bolkenstein announced he was stepping down as Leader and Parliamentary leader in the House of Representatives, the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy leadership approached Dijkstal as his successor, Dijkstal accepted and became the Leader of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy and Parliamentary leader, taking office on 30 July 1998. For the election of 2002 Dijkstal served as ''

Lijsttrekker In politics, a lead candidate (; , ) is the leader of a political party in an election to a legislative body. In parliamentary systems, it is often the party's nominee for the position of head of government. In open list electoral systems, it is ...

'' (top candidate). Dijkstal and

Labour Leader The ''Labour Leader'' was a British socialist newspaper published for almost one hundred years. It was later renamed ''New Leader'' and ''Socialist Leader'', before finally taking the name ''Labour Leader'' again. 19th century The origins of the ...

Ad Melkert were the front runners to become the next

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

, but the unexpected arrival of

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) ...

Livable Netherlands Livable Netherlands ( nl, Leefbaar Nederland, LN) was a Dutch political party. Pim Fortuyn began his political career in the party. History Historically there have always been parties in States Provincial (provincial legislatures) and municipa ...

(LN) and later the

Pim Fortuyn List The Pim Fortuyn List ( nl, Lijst Pim Fortuyn, LPF) was a political party in the Netherlands named after its eponymous founder Pim Fortuyn, a former university professor and political columnist. The party was considered populist, right-wing popu ...

(LPF), turned the polls. Fortuyn blamed the problems in the country on the Purple cabinets (in which both Dijkstal and Melkert served as ministers). Fortuyn depicted Dijkstal and Melkert as two

bureaucrat A bureaucrat is a member of a bureaucracy and can compose the administration of any organization of any size, although the term usually connotes someone within an institution of government. The term ''bureaucrat'' derives from "bureaucracy", w ...

s who didn't understand the feelings and problems among the population. After a heated campaign a mere days before the election, Fortuyn was assassinated in Hilversum. The VVD suffered a big loss, losing 14 seats and now had 24 seats in the House of Representatives. Dijkstal accepted responsibility for the defeat. On May 16, 2002, he announced his resignation as leader. He continued to serve in the House of Representatives as a backbencher until his resignation on 1 September 2002. When his former party started taking a heavy stance on ' allochtonen' (immigrants and their children) he teamed up with former politicians from a wide range of other parties in protest, to strive for a more tolerant society, under the name "Een Land Een Samenleving" ('One Country One Society').

Post-politics

Dijkstal retired from national politics and became active in the

private sector The private sector is the part of the economy, sometimes referred to as the citizen sector, which is owned by private groups, usually as a means of establishment for profit or non profit, rather than being owned by the government. Employment The ...

and

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, inf ...

and occupied numerous seats as a corporate director and nonprofit director on several boards of directors and supervisory boards ( Institute for Multiparty Democracy,

International Institute of Social History The International Institute of Social History (IISH/IISG) is one of the largest archives of labor and social history in the world. Located in Amsterdam, its one million volumes and 2,300 archival collections include the papers of major figu ...

Naturalis Biodiversity Center Naturalis Biodiversity Center ( nl, Nederlands Centrum voor Biodiversiteit Naturalis) is a national museum of natural history and a research center on biodiversity in Leiden, Netherlands. It was named the European Museum of the Year 2021. ...

, Public Pension Funds APB and the

Anne Frank Foundation The Anne Frank Foundation ( nl, Anne Frank Stichting) is a foundation in the Netherlands originally established to maintain the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam. This foundation also advocates the fight against antisemitism and racism and publishes t ...

) and served on several state commissions and councils on behalf of the government ( Council for Public Administration, Cadastre Agency and the Netherlands Film Fund) and as an advocate, lobbyist and activist for

social justice Social justice is justice in terms of the distribution of wealth, Equal opportunity, opportunities, and Social privilege, privileges within a society. In Western Civilization, Western and Culture of Asia, Asian cultures, the concept of social ...

and

democracy Democracy (From grc, δημοκρατία, dēmokratía, ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which people, the people have the authority to deliberate and decide legislation ("direct democracy"), or to choo ...

Reputation

Dijkstal was known for his abilities as a consensus builder and

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

Personal life

On 29 July 1966 he married Anneke Dijkstal and became the father of two daughters. He was a fan and admirer of '' Star Trek''.

Death

Dijkstal continued to comment on political affairs until his death from

bone cancer A bone tumor is an abnormal growth of tissue in bone, traditionally classified as noncancerous (benign) or cancerous (malignant). Cancerous bone tumors usually originate from a cancer in another part of the body such as from lung, breast, thy ...

at the age of 67.Hans Dijkstal (67) overleden
Volkskrant, 10 May 2010

Decorations

References

External links

*
H.F. (Hans) Dijkstal
Parlement & Politiek {{DEFAULTSORT:Dijkstal, Hans 1943 births 2010 deaths Aldermen of Wassenaar Deaths from bone cancer Deaths from cancer in the Netherlands Deputy Prime Ministers of the Netherlands Dutch agnostics Dutch corporate directors Dutch critics Dutch democracy activists Dutch financial advisors Dutch lobbyists Dutch management consultants Dutch nonprofit directors Dutch nonprofit executives Dutch political activists Dutch political commentators Dutch saxophonists Dutch social justice activists Male saxophonists Members of the House of Representatives (Netherlands) Ministers of the Interior of the Netherlands Municipal councillors of Wassenaar Leaders of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy Officers of the Order of Orange-Nassau People from Port Said People from Wassenaar People's Party for Freedom and Democracy politicians Royal Netherlands Air Force officers University of Amsterdam alumni 20th-century Dutch educators 20th-century Dutch military personnel 20th-century Dutch politicians 21st-century Dutch educators 21st-century Dutch politicians 20th-century saxophonists