Frank P. Wassenberg (born 2 May 1966) is a Dutch politician. He was a member of 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 ...

for the

Party for the Animals The Party for the Animals ( , PvdD) is a List of political parties in the Netherlands, political party in the Netherlands. Among its main goals are animal rights and animal welfare. The PvdD was founded in 2002 as a single-issue party for animal ...

between November 2016 and October 2017 and between March 2017 and December 2023. He was the temporary replacement

Esther Ouwehand Esther Ouwehand (; born 10 June 1976) is a Dutch politician and former marketing manager serving as party leader, leader of the Party for the Animals (, PvdD) and its parliamentary group in the House of Representatives (Netherlands), House of Re ...

in the former. He serves in the

States of Limburg The Provincial Council of Limburg (), also called Limburgs Parlement, are the provincial council for the Dutch province of Limburg. It forms the legislative body of the province. Its 47 seats are distributed every four years in provincial ele ...

since the

2015 elections Africa * 2015 Beninese parliamentary election 26 April 2015 * 2015 Burkinabé general election 29 November 2015 * 2015 Burundian legislative election 29 June 2015 * 2015 Burundian presidential election 21 July 2015 * 2015-16 Central African gene ...

, and previously served between 2007 and 2011.

Career

Wassenberg was born on 2 May 1966 in

Heer, Maastricht Heer is a neighbourhood of Maastricht, in the Netherlands, Dutch province of Limburg (Netherlands), Limburg. Heer is a former municipality and village, incorporated into Maastricht in 1970 and, until 1828, this municipality was called "Heer en Kee ...

. After completing his high school education in Maastricht in 1985 he went to study biology at

Utrecht University Utrecht University (UU; , formerly ''Rijksuniversiteit Utrecht'') is a public university, public research university in Utrecht, Netherlands. Established , it is one of the oldest universities in the Netherlands. In 2023, it had an enrollment of ...

and graduated in 1992. Since 1993 he has worked as a policy officer for various foundations for animal rights, since 2006 for the . Wassenberg was elected to the

for the

in the

2007 elections The following elections occurred in the year 2007. * Electoral calendar 2007 * Elections in 2007 * 2007 United Nations Security Council election Africa * 52nd National Conference of the African National Congress * 2007 Algerian legislative elect ...

. He served one four-year term. In the 2011 elections the party did not manage to obtain any seats. In the

Wassenberg was once more elected to the States, as the sole representative of the party. In November 2015

temporarily resigned her seat in the

for health reasons. Wassenberg became her replacement with an expected term of four months. He has been reappointed multiple times since the passing of the first four months. In September 2016, Wassenberg missed a vote on a bill to reform Holland’s organ-donor system. The bill provided that, if a person does not specify “yes” or “no” on the form to donate organs upon one’s death, s/he will be registered as making “no objection” to organ donation; one could still change the “no objection” status later. If one remains registered as “no objection” at the time of death, the organs become available for donation — unless one’s close family member objects. The bill passed Holland’s lower house of parliament by a vote of 75 to 74. Wassenberg had planned to vote against the bill: Although he and his party considered it “terribly important” for the country’s health services to attract more organ donors, he felt the bill encroached on people’s freedom of choice regarding their own bodies. Wassenberg admitted an “incredibly stupid mistake” in missing the vote: “I had an appointment outside

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 ...

, and then something went wrong with the timetable. The group tried to reach me, but I had my phone turned off during the conversation.” Esther Ouwehand returned to the House of Representatives on 18 October 2016, ending Wassenberg's temporary replacement. After the 2017 general election Wassenberg returned to the House, taking office on 23 March 2017. He lost his bid for re-election in November 2023, and his term ended on 5 December. Wassenberg ran for the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...

as his party's second candidate in June 2024, but his party secured only one seat.

Electoral history

Notes

References

External links

*
Parlement.com biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wassenberg, Frank 1966 births Living people Members of the Provincial Council of Limburg Party for the Animals politicians Politicians from Maastricht Utrecht University alumni 20th-century Dutch people Dutch MPs 2012–2017 Dutch MPs 2017–2021 Dutch MPs 2021–2023 Party for the Animals MPs