Adrianus Petrus Wilhelmus "Ad" Melkert (; born 12 February 1956) is a Dutch politician and diplomat of the Labour Party (PvdA) who has served as a Member of the Council of State since 20 January 2016. Melkert studied

Political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

at the

University of Amsterdam The University of Amsterdam (abbreviated as UvA, ) is a public university, public research university located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Established in 1632 by municipal authorities, it is the fourth-oldest academic institution in the Netherlan ...

obtaining a

Master of Social Science A Master of Social Science (MSocSc, MSSc or MSS) is a master's degree which has a number of different meanings dependent upon the education system in question. Europe In Finland and Sweden, where the university degree nomenclatura is simply bas ...

degree. Melkert worked as a political activist for the youth branch of the

European Community The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organisation created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957,Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the ''Treaty on the functioning of the European Union'', as renamed by the Lisbo ...

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

from July 1981 until March 1984 and as a nonprofit director for the

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Oxfam Novib Oxfam is a British-founded confederation of 21 independent non-governmental organizations (NGOs), focusing on the alleviation of global poverty Poverty is a state or conditio ...

from March 1984 until June 1986. After the election of 1986 Melkert was elected as a Member of the House of Representatives and served 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 know ...

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

Development Cooperation Development aid (or development cooperation) is a type of aid given by governments and other agencies to support the economic, environmental, social, and political development of developing countries. It is distinguished from humanitarian aid by ...

and the Environment. After the election of 1994 Melkert was appointed as Minister of Social Affairs and Employment in the Cabinet Kok I taking office on 22 August 1994. After the election of 1998 Melkert returned to the House of Representatives on 19 May 1998 and declined to serve in the new cabinet and was selected as

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 legislature, legislative body, whether it be a national or sub-national legislature. ...

on 13 July 1998. Shortly before an upcoming

election An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold Public administration, public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative d ...

Party Leader In a governmental system, a party leader acts as the official representative of their political party, either to a legislature or to the electorate. Depending on the country, the individual colloquially referred to as the "leader" of a politica ...

Wim Kok Willem Kok (; 29 September 1938 – 20 October 2018) was a Dutch politician and trade union leader who served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 22 August 1994 until 22 July 2002.election of 2002 Melkert served as ''

Lijsttrekker 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 Net ...

'' (top candidate) but suffered a large defeat and stepped down as Leader and Parliamentary leader on 16 May 2002 but continued to serve in the House of Representatives as a

backbencher In Westminster system, Westminster and other parliamentary systems, a backbencher is a member of parliament (MP) or a legislator who occupies no Minister (government), governmental office and is not a Frontbencher, frontbench spokesperson ...

. In October 2002 Melkert was nominated as an executive director of the

World Bank Group The World Bank Group (WBG) is a family of five international organizations that make leveraged loans to developing countries. It is the largest and best-known development bank in the world and an observer at the United Nations Development Group ...

and the

International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution funded by 191 member countries, with headquarters in Washington, D.C. It is regarded as the global lender of las ...

serving until March 2006 when he was nominated as an Associate Administrator of the

United Nations Development Programme The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is a United Nations agency tasked with helping countries eliminate poverty and achieve sustainable economic growth and human development. The UNDP emphasizes on developing local capacity towar ...

(UNDP) serving until July 2009 when he was appointed as the

Special Representative Diplomatic rank is a system of professional and social rank used in the world of diplomacy and international relations. A diplomat's rank determines many ceremonial details, such as the order of precedence at official processions, table seating ...

for the United Nations in Iraq serving until his resignation in October 2011. Melkert continued to be active in politics and in December 2015 was nominated as a Member of the Council of State on 20 January 2016. Melkert also became active in the

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * "In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorded ...

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, pu ...

s as a corporate and non-profit director and served on several state commissions and councils on behalf of the government, and works as a trade association executive serving as Chairman of the Dutch Hospitals association since December 2018 and became a Member of the Social and Economic Council for the Industry and Employers confederation (VNO-NCW) in April 2019.

Biography

Early life

Adrianus Petrus Wilhelmus Melkert was born into a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

middle-class family in

Gouderak Gouderak is a village in the Dutch province of South Holland. It is located 4 km southwest of Gouda on the river Hollandsche IJssel, in the municipality of Krimpenerwaard. Gouderak was a separate municipality until 1985, when it merged with ...

, a small village situated in the province of

South Holland South Holland ( ) is a province of the Netherlands with a population of over 3.8 million as of January 2023 and a population density of about , making it the country's most populous province and one of the world's most densely populated areas. ...

. His father was a barber. Melkert attended a

primary school in

Moordrecht Moordrecht () is a village and a former municipality in the province of South Holland, the Netherlands, situated along the river Hollandse IJssel. In September 2006, 93% of the population of Moordrecht chose by referendum to pursue a merger with ...

until 1968, after which he continued his studies at the Coornhert Gymnasium in Gouda, a state school specialising in the arts. In the final year of his secondary education, he worked for a greengrocer at the local market. Melkert graduated in 1974 and went on to study

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

at the

. During this period he became active within the radical left-wing Christian

Political Party of Radicals The Political Party of Radicals (, PPR) was a progressive Christian (''radicaal-christelijke'') and green political party in the Netherlands. The PPR played a relatively small role in Dutch politics and merged with other left-wing parties to for ...

(PPR) party and served as a member of the board of the youth organisation of the PPR between 1978 and 1980. He went on to become a member of the general board of the Dutch branch of the European Movement, the chairperson of the Council of European National Youth Committees and the chairperson of the Dutch Platform for International Youth Work. In 1979 he was elected to the party board of the PPR and was 3rd candidate on the PPR's list for the 1979 European Parliament elections. He graduated in 1981 and received the Dutch Society for International Relations prize for best Master's thesis of 1981, the subject of which dealt with the foreign policy of the

Den Uyl cabinet The Den Uyl cabinet was the cabinet of the Netherlands from 11 May 1973 until 19 December 1977. The cabinet was formed by the social democratic Labour Party (Netherlands), Labour Party (PvdA), the Christian democratic Catholic People's Party (KV ...

. In 1981 he became general secretary of the youth forum of the European Community in

. In this capacity, he attended an illegal youth conference in

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

, then ruled by

Pinochet Augusto José Ramón Pinochet Ugarte (25 November 1915 – 10 December 2006) was a Chilean military officer and politician who was the dictator of Chile from 1973 to 1990. From 1973 to 1981, he was the leader of the military junta, which i ...

. Meanwhile, tensions within the PPR had escalated. Melkert was a member of the so-called, 'Blues' or 'Godebald' group of radicals, which favoured closer cooperation with the social-democrat Labour Party (PvdA) and the social-liberal

Democrats 66 Democrats 66 (; D66) is a social liberal and progressive political party in the Netherlands, which is positioned on the centre to centre-left of the political spectrum. It is a member of the Liberal International (LI) and the Alliance of Li ...

(D66) party. The conflict came to an end in 1981. The 'Reds', who favoured closer cooperation with the left-wing socialist

Pacifist Socialist Party The Pacifist Socialist Party (, PSP) was a Democratic socialism, democratic socialist political party in the Netherlands. It is one of the predecessors of GroenLinks. Party history Before 1957 In 1955, a group of "politically homeless" activists ...

(PSP) party and the communist

Communist Party of the Netherlands The Communist Party of the Netherlands (, , CPN) was a communist party in the Netherlands. The party was founded in 1909 as the Social Democratic Party (Netherlands), Social Democratic Party (SDP) and merged with the Pacifist Socialist Party, the ...

(CPN) party, and the 'Greens', who favoured an independent Green Party, joined forces. Many 'Blues', including Melkert, left the PPR for the PvdA. In 1984 he became director of international affairs at

Oxfam Novib Oxfam is a British-founded confederation of 21 independent non-governmental organizations (NGOs), focusing on the alleviation of global poverty Poverty is a state or conditio ...

, the Dutch branch of

Oxfam Oxfam is a British-founded confederation of 21 independent non-governmental organizations (NGOs), focusing on the alleviation of global poverty, founded in 1942 and led by Oxfam International. It began as the Oxford Committee for Famine Relief ...

, and moved to

The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

. He also became a member of the board of the local PvdA branch. In 1986 he published a book on international development in the Netherlands titled: ''The Next Minister: Development Cooperation with the Cabinet, 1965 – 19?''

Politics

In 1996 Melkert was elected into the House of Representatives. In the early years, he was the party's spokesperson on foreign affairs, development cooperation and environmental affairs. After the 1989 elections, he took the post of financial spokesperson of the PvdA, becoming the party's primary spokesperson in the debates on the national budget. Between 1990 and 1994 he was vice-chairman of the parliament's committee on finance. As an MP, Melkert also participated in several boards of civil society organisations. He was a member of the board of advisers of the Foundation for Communication on Development Cooperation, chairman of the Foundation for Development Cooperation Almere-Port Sudan, and vice-chairman of the Atlantic Committee. Also, he wrote a column in the region newspaper, ''

De Gooi- en Eemlander ''De Gooi- en Eemlander'' is a regional Dutch daily newspaper distributed in the Gooi region and some nearby towns and villages in Utrecht. History 19th century: Foundation and first decades under Geradts The newspaper started as the ''Gooisch ...

'', that covered Hilversum and the Almere region. In 1994 Melkert became the Minister of Social Affairs and Employment in the first cabinet of Prime Minister, Wim Kok. He held responsibility for one of its main goals, which, in the words of those who shaped the cabinet was: ''Employment, Employment, Employment''. As a minister, Melkert was known for his work ethic. Each Friday he would fill a postman's cart, which he had bought specifically for that purpose, with dossiers. Upon his return to work the following Monday all the dossiers would have been read. His work ethic was also noticeable in the vast amount of policies and laws he initiated during his tenure as minister. * In 1995 he initiated a plan to employ 40.000 long-term unemployed. They would be offered a so-called, ''Melkert job, mostly in the public sector e.g. tram conductor, high school janitor etc. These jobs were subsidised by the national government. * In 1995 Melkert also published a note, ''The Other Side of the Netherlands'', in which he proposed several plans to combat silent poverty and social exclusion. This led to the 1997 law: ''Prevention and Combat of Poverty and Social Exclusion''. It changed the social security and the old age pension laws, giving municipalities more ways of offering special social benefits to the poorest citizens. * In the same year he also wrote the note, ''Flexibility and Certainty'', in which proposals for a more

flexible labour market The degree of labour market flexibility is the speed with which labour markets adapt to fluctuations and changes in society, the economy or production. This entails enabling labour markets to reach a continuous equilibrium determined by the interse ...

were made. * In 1997, in collaboration with Frank de Grave, the VVD (Liberal) state secretary of social affairs, he published the note, ''Working on Security'', in which the future of the social security system was researched. It included plans to reform the way old-age pensions were financed. * In the same year he also initiated a ''White Cleaners'' plan, which stimulated the hiring of cleaners by individuals with the added responsibility of paying taxes and social benefits. The plan was intended to combat unemployment of the least educated, and the informal economy. * In addition, he united all employment laws, such as the Youth Work law, as well as the 'job pools' into one Law Activation Working-Seeking, which offered municipalities more possibilities to employ the long-term unemployed. As minister of Social Affairs, he often came into conflict with the VVD's (People's Party for Freedom and Democracy) Minister of Finance, Gerrit Zalm. Following the 1998 general elections in which Melkert was the PvdA's fifth-ranking candidate, he became leader of the PvdA in parliament. He also served as chair of the parliament's committee on Information and Security Services. During his period as chairman, the party discipline tightened. The PvdA's image appeared arrogant. A conflict situation between Melkert and Rob van Gijzel, a popular PvdA MP, regarding the post of spokesperson on fraud in the construction sector, resulted in Van Gijzel leaving parliament. Despite concerns regarding Melkert's policy of marginalising and isolating the Socialist Party, he was seen as a competent politician and was designated to succeed Prime Minister, Wim Kok, who officially retired as leader of the PvdA in 2001. Joe Biden meets Ad Melkert

Elections of 2002

It was widely anticipated that the election would revolve mainly around the question as to whether the Labour Party or 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) would become the largest party and that either Melkert or the

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 (VVD) in the Netherlands. The post is currently held by Dilan Yeşilgöz-Zegerius, who succeeded Mark R ...

Hans Dijkstal were to become the next

Prime Minister A prime minister 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. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

. Melkert and Dijkstal were the front runners in the early stages of the campaign but the unexpected arrival of former Sociology professor

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) in ...

of the

Livable Netherlands Livable Netherlands (, 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 municipal councils that were i ...

(LN) party and later the

Pim Fortuyn List The Pim Fortuyn List (, LPF) was a political party in the Netherlands that existed from 2002 to 2008 at a national level and was named after its eponymous founder Pim Fortuyn, a former university professor and political columnist. The party was ...

(LPF) party turned the polls. Fortuyn shifted the election issues from '' Business as usual'' to Immigration and Integration policies,

Healthcare Health care, or healthcare, is the improvement or maintenance of health via the preventive healthcare, prevention, diagnosis, therapy, treatment, wikt:amelioration, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other disability, physic ...

reform and the state of 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, pu ...

. Fortuyn blamed the problems in the country on the Purple cabinets (in which both Melkert and Dijkstal served as ministers) and depicted Melkert and Dijkstal 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", wh ...

s who were out of touch with the voter's concerns. During the election, Fortuyn accused Melkert of the

demonization Demonization or demonisation is the reinterpretation of polytheistic deities as evil, lying demons by other religions, generally by the monotheistic and henotheistic ones. The term has since been expanded to refer to any characterization of indivi ...

of his character and personal integrity. In several television debates between Melkert and Fortuyn, it became apparent that Melkert was no match for Fortuyn's rather unconventional, though highly charismatic debating style. In the now infamous debate on the night when the results of the 2002 municipal elections were telecast, Fortuyn, having just won the elections in Rotterdam, made a lively, enthusiastic impression, rarely missing an opportunity to mock his opponent who appeared to sit with a degree of discomfort. The incompatibility of the two men dominated the rest of the election campaign. In a one-on-one debate during the programme, ''Network'', their vastly different styles were once again highlighted. To every question posed by the host, Melkert responded with a detailed course of action. With regard to Fortuyn's plans, Melkert demanded 'footnotes!', implying that his opponent's contribution was unrealistic and devoid of detail. There were those who perceived this as arrogance on his part. Steps were taken to redress the possibility of a negative, bureaucratic image and it was revealed that Melkert was an avid follower of Feyenoord football club and enjoyed culinary pursuits: a cookbook was published on his personal website. In May 2006 Melkert revealed to politician-turned-television personality, Paul Rosenmöller, that perhaps by being too entrenched in the confines of the governmental tower, his demeanour had come across as somewhat patronising: something that did not appeal to the voter. On 6 May 2002 nine days before the election Fortuyn was

assassinated Assassination is the willful killing, by a sudden, secret, or planned attack, of a personespecially if prominent or important. It may be prompted by political, ideological, religious, financial, or military motives. Assassinations are orde ...

by a 32-year-old environmental activist. in

Hilversum Hilversum () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Holland, Netherlands. Located in the heart of the Gooi, it is ...

. A few relatively minor riots erupted in The Hague where Melkert was at the time, urging him to make a quick departure from the city. After receiving death threats, including a loaded gun in the mail, he and his family temporarily went into hiding. Melkert's PvdA lost nearly half its seats, decreasing from 45 to 23 in the 150-seat House of Representatives. The party fell from 1st to 4th place. Melkert resigned as political leader on election night and was replaced by the former speaker of the House of Representatives, Jeltje van Nieuwenhoven. Melkert remained in parliament for a short time afterwards. His last major parliamentary debate was on the state of the European Union.

World Bank and the United Nations

In November 2002, Melkert was appointed executive director of the World Bank. In April 2005 he was a serious candidate for the post of Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). It went, however, to the Turkish economist and politician, Kemel Dervis. In January 2006 Melkert was appointed Associate Administrator of the UNDP. In 2009 Melkert was appointed Special Representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations in Iraq. He was a candidate to succeed

Juan Somavía Juan Somavía Altamirano (born April 21, 1941) is the former Director-General of the International Labour Organization (ILO). He was elected to serve as the ninth Director-General of the ILO by the Governing Body on 23 March 1998. On 7 November 2 ...

as Director-General of the International Labour Organization but lost to

Guy Ryder Guy Bernard Ryder (born 3 January 1956) is a British international civil servant who currently serves as Under-Secretary-General for Policy at the United Nations. He was previously Director-General of the International Labour Organization fro ...

. The PvdA formed an electoral alliance with

GroenLinks (, ; GL) is a Green politics, green List of political parties in the Netherlands, political party in the Netherlands. It was formed on 1 March 1989 from the merger of four Left-wing politics, left-wing parties: the Communist Party of the Neth ...

in the early 2020s. Melkert opposed merger plans, arguing that the focus of GroenLinks on

climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...

would deter moderate voters. He said that the PvdA should win back working-class people, and he has supported Rood Vooruit, an initiative founded in 2023 that has been critical of a merger.

Decorations

References

External links

*
Drs. A.P.W. (Ad) Melkert
Parlement & Politiek {{DEFAULTSORT:Melkert, Ad 1956 births Living people Dutch atheists Dutch corporate directors Dutch expatriates in Belgium Dutch expatriates in Iraq Dutch expatriates in the United States Dutch former Christians Dutch lobbyists Dutch nonprofit directors Dutch nonprofit executives Dutch officials of the United Nations Dutch activists Dutch sports executives and administrators Dutch trade association executives Former Roman Catholics International Monetary Fund people Labour Party (Netherlands) politicians Leaders of the Labour Party (Netherlands) Members of the Council of State (Netherlands) Members of the House of Representatives (Netherlands) Members of the Social and Economic Council Ministers of social affairs of the Netherlands Officers of the Order of Orange-Nassau Oxfam people People from Gouda, South Holland Politicians from The Hague Special Representatives of the Secretary-General of the United Nations United Nations Development Programme officials Under-Secretaries-General of the United Nations University of Amsterdam alumni World Bank people 20th-century Dutch civil servants 20th-century Dutch politicians 21st-century Dutch civil servants 21st-century Dutch diplomats 21st-century Dutch politicians First Kok cabinet members