Abraham "Bram" Stemerdink (born 6 March 1936) is a retired

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

politician of the Labour Party (PvdA) and army officer. Stemerdink was

conscripted Conscription, also known as the draft in the United States and Israel, is the practice in which the compulsory enlistment in a national service, mainly a military service, is enforced by law. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it contin ...

in the

Royal Netherlands Army The Royal Netherlands Army (, KL) is the Ground warfare, land branch of the Netherlands Armed Forces. Though the Royal Netherlands Army was raised on 9 January 1814, its origins date back to 1572, when the was raised making the Dutch standing a ...

serving as a

corporal Corporal is a military rank in use by the armed forces of many countries. It is also a police rank in some police services. The rank is usually the lowest ranking non-commissioned officer. In some militaries, the rank of corporal nominally corr ...

from July 1955 until August 1956 and attended the Royal Military Academy and was commissioned as an officer in August 1956 serving in the cavalry Regiment van Heutsz as a

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

from August 1956 until August 1970. Stemerdink was

wounded in action Wounded in action (WIA) describes combatants who have been wounded while fighting in a combat zone during wartime, but have not been killed. Typically, it implies that they are temporarily or permanently incapable of bearing arms or continuing ...

after losing an eye from an explosion during a training exercise, after his recovery he studied law at the

Leiden University Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; ) is a Public university, public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. Established in 1575 by William the Silent, William, Prince of Orange as a Protestantism, Protestant institution, it holds the d ...

and he subsequently returned to active service a military lawyer and judge for the

military justice Military justice (or military law) is the body of laws and procedures governing members of the armed forces. Many nation-states have separate and distinct bodies of law that govern the conduct of members of their armed forces. Some states us ...

system of the Royal Netherlands Army. Stemerdink served on the Provincial-Council of

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from June 1970 until August 1971 and 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, borough cou ...

's-Hertogenbosch s-Hertogenbosch (), colloquially known as Den Bosch (), is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands with a population of 160,783. It is the capital of ...

from 1 September 1970 until 11 May 1973. Stemerdink became a Member of the House of Representatives after the resignation of Joan Willems, taking office on 25 August 1970 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 know ...

chairing the special parliamentary committee for Military Justice Reform 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

Defence Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense indust ...

and

Veterans' affairs Veterans' affairs is an area of public policy concerned with relations between a government and its communities of military veterans. Some jurisdictions have a designated government agency or department, a Department of Veterans' Affairs, Minist ...

. After the election of 1972 Stemerdink was appointed as State Secretary for Defence in the Cabinet Den Uyl, taking office on 11 May 1973. Stemerdink was appointed as

Minister of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divid ...

following the appointment of Henk Vredeling as the next European Commissioner from the Netherlands, taking office on 1 January 1977. The Cabinet Den Uyl fell on 22 March 1977 after four years of tensions in the coalition and continued to serve in a

demissionary A demissionary cabinet () is a type of caretaker government, caretaker cabinet of the Netherlands, cabinet or provisional government in the politics of the Netherlands, Netherlands. Overview The Dutch demissionary cabinet continues the current g ...

capacity. After the election of 1977 Stemerdink returned as a Member of the House of Representatives, taking office on 14 June 1977 but he was still serving in the cabinet and because of

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customs in the constitutional convention of Dutch politics he couldn't serve a

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he subsequently resigned as a Member of the House of Representatives on 14 September 1977. The Cabinet Den Uyl was replaced by the Cabinet Van Agt-Wiegel following the cabinet formation of 1977 on 19 December 1977 and he subsequently returned as Member of the House of Representatives after the resignation of Adriaan van Mierlo, taking office on 16 January 1978 serving as a frontbencher and spokesperson for Defence and Veterans' affairs. After the election of 1981 Stemerdink was again appointed as State Secretary for Defence in the Cabinet Van Agt II, taking office on 11 September 1981. The Cabinet Van Agt II fell just seven months into its term on 12 May 1982 after months of tensions in the coalition and continued to serve in a demissionary capacity until the first cabinet formation of 1982 when it was replaced by the caretaker Cabinet Van Agt III on 29 May 1982. After the election of 1982 Stemerdink once again returned as a Member of the House of Representatives, taking office on 16 September 1982 serving as a frontbencher chairing the parliamentary committee for European Affairs and spokesperson for Defence, European Affairs,

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

, Veterans' affairs and spokesperson for

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. After the election of 1989 Stemerdink was not giving a cabinet post in the new Cabinet Lubbers III and continued serving in the House of Representatives. In October 1993 Stemerdink announced his retirement from national politics and that he wouldn't stand for the election of 1994 and continued to serve until the end of the parliamentary term on 17 May 1994. Stemerdink retired after spending 23 years in national politics and became active in 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 ...

and occupied numerous seats as a nonprofit director on several boards of directors and supervisory boards (

Overloon War Museum The Overloon War Museum (''Dutch: Oorlogsmuseum Overloon'') in full 'Dutch National War and Resistance Museum Overloon', is a Dutch historical and educational museum located in the North Brabant village of Overloon. It focuses on the history o ...

, Institute for Multiparty Democracy, roDemos and the

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) and served on several state commissions and councils on behalf of the government ( Probation Agency, Public Pension Funds APB,

National Committee for 4 and 5 May The National Committee for 4 and 5 May () is a Dutch authority for war monuments and memorials since 1987. The committee is best known for its annual organization of the Remembrance of the Dead observances on May 4, and also its organization of ...

, Custodial Institutions Agency and the

Dutch Safety Board The Dutch Safety Board (DSB; , OVV, literally "Investigation Council for Safety") is the official body that investigates a wide variety of safety matters in the Netherlands. It is based in The Hague.Leiden Leiden ( ; ; in English language, English and Archaism, archaic Dutch language, Dutch also Leyden) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Nethe ...

. Then he became secretary of the

Council of War A council of war North Brabant North Brabant ( ; ), also unofficially called Brabant, Dutch Brabant or Hollandic Brabant, is a province in the south of the Netherlands. It borders the provinces of South Holland and Gelderland to the north, Limburg to the east, Zeeland to ...

province government and councilor for the city

and since 1970 Member of Parliament (MP). In the Den Uyl administration he was Secretary of State of Defence from 1973 and from 1 January to 19 December 1977

. In the second van Agt administration he was secretary of state again. In the periods 1978–1981 and 1982–1994 he was an MP. Stemerdink was an independent politician with historical interest. He was an activist for the preservation of the old parliament hall. He has been a respected radio commentator for many years. He is also chairman of the foundation National War and Resistance in

Overloon Overloon is a village with 3,626 inhabitants on the outskirts of the Peel region, in the former municipality of Boxmeer, North Brabant. Since 2022 it has been part of the new municipality of Land van Cuijk. Located on the outskirts is the Nati ...

(the Netherlands).

Decorations

References

External links

;Official *
Mr. A. (Bram) Stemerdink
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