Johannes Marijnus Antonius Maria "Jan" de Wit (born 10 May 1945) is a former Dutch politician and lawyer. As a member of the

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of th ...

(Socialistische Partij) he was an MP from 19 May 1998 to 1 April 2014. He focused on matters of

judiciary The judiciary (also known as the judicial system, judicature, judicial branch, judiciative branch, and court or judiciary system) is the system of courts that adjudicates legal disputes/disagreements and interprets, defends, and applies the law ...

and

aliens Alien primarily refers to: * Alien (law), a person in a country who is not a national of that country ** Enemy alien, the above in times of war * Extraterrestrial life, life which does not originate from Earth ** Specifically, a lifeform with ext ...

policy. From 1995 to 1998, he was a

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

Biography

de Wit studied

public law Public law is the part of law that governs relations and affairs between legal persons and a government, between different institutions within a state, between different branches of governments, as well as relationships between persons that ...

Tilburg University Tilburg University is a Catholic research university specializing in the social and behavioral sciences, economics, law, business sciences, theology and humanities, located in Tilburg, Netherlands. Tilburg has a student population of about 19,1 ...

. For a brief time, he worked as a lawyer in

Eindhoven Eindhoven ( ; ) is a city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, located in the southern Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Brabant, of which it is the largest municipality, and is also locat ...

and thereafter for many years in

Maastricht Maastricht ( , , ; ; ; ) is a city and a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the southeastern Netherlands. It is the capital city, capital and largest city of the province of Limburg (Netherlands), Limburg. Maastricht is loca ...

and

Heerlen Heerlen (; ) is a city and a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the southeast of the Netherlands. It is the third largest settlement proper in the province of Limburg (Netherlands), Limburg. Measured as municipality, it is the f ...

. In 1972, he joined the Socialist Party, which had just been founded in 1971. From 1972 to 1996, he was a local party executive, and from 1988 to 1992, he was also a party executive on the national level. Furthermore, he was an SP

councillor A councillor, alternatively councilman, councilwoman, councilperson, or council member, is someone who sits on, votes in, or is a member of, a council. This is typically an elected representative of an electoral district in a municipal or re ...

of Heerlen from 1982 to 1995 and chairman of SP's

think tank A think tank, or public policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governme ...

foundation until 1997. In 1995, de Wit was elected into the

Dutch Senate The Senate ( , literally "First Chamber of the States General", or simply ; sometimes ) is the upper house of the States General, the legislature of the Netherlands. Its 75 members are elected on lists by the members of the twelve States-Provi ...

; he was the sole representative of the SP until 1998. In 1998, he exchanged the Senate for the

Dutch House of Representatives The House of Representatives ( , literally "Second Chamber of the States General", or simply ) is the lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliament of the Netherlands, the States General of the Netherlands, States General, the other one ...

. As an MP, de Wit was a member of the parliamentary inquiry on

construction Construction are processes involved in delivering buildings, infrastructure, industrial facilities, and associated activities through to the end of their life. It typically starts with planning, financing, and design that continues until the a ...

, a member of the

Presidium A presidium or praesidium is a council of executive officers in some countries' political assemblies that collectively administers its business, either alongside an individual president or in place of one. The term is also sometimes used for the ...

and former chairman of the

standing committee 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 ...

for

social affairs A ministry of social affairs or department of social affairs is the common name for a government department found in states where the government is divided into ministries or departments. While there is some variation in the responsibilities of su ...

and

employment Employment is a relationship between two party (law), parties Regulation, regulating the provision of paid Labour (human activity), labour services. Usually based on a employment contract, contract, one party, the employer, which might be a cor ...

. Since 2010, he has been chairman of the parliamentary inquiry on the

financial system A financial system is a system that allows the exchange of funds between financial market participants such as lenders, investors, and borrowers. Financial systems operate at national and global levels. Financial institutions consist of comple ...

. From 24 June 2009 to October 2010, de Wit was the chairman of the , which was to investigate the causes of the

2008 financial crisis The 2008 financial crisis, also known as the global financial crisis (GFC), was a major worldwide financial crisis centered in the United States. The causes of the 2008 crisis included excessive speculation on housing values by both homeowners ...

Personal life

de Wit is married to , who is an SP

alderwoman An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law with similar officials existing in the Netherlands (wethouder) and Belgium (schepen). The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking membe ...

in Heerlen. They have three children. Raised as a Catholic, he turned non-religious later on.

References

*
Parlement.com biography

External links

*
House of Representatives of the Netherlands
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wit, Jan De 1945 births Living people Dutch atheists 20th-century Dutch lawyers Former Roman Catholics Dutch MPs 2012–2017 Members of the Senate (Netherlands) Municipal councillors in Limburg (Netherlands) Politicians from Heerlen People from Moerdijk Socialist Party (Netherlands) politicians Tilburg University alumni Dutch MPs 2006–2010 Dutch MPs 2010–2012 Socialist Party (Netherlands) senators