Johannes Guillaume Christianus Andreas "Jan" Marijnissen () (born 8 October 1952) is a retired Dutch politician of the Socialist Party (SP).
Marijnissen, a
welder
A welder is a person or equipment that fuses materials together. The term welder refers to the operator, the machine is referred to as the welding power supply. The materials to be joined can be metals (such as steel, aluminum, brass, stainles ...
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 ...
, the first time the Socialist Party won representation in the
States General of the Netherlands
The States General of the Netherlands ( ) is the Parliamentary sovereignty, supreme Bicameralism, bicameral legislature of the Netherlands consisting of the Senate (Netherlands), Senate () and the House of Representatives (Netherlands), House of R ...
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. ...
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 ...
2002
The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...
Marijnissen again as Lijsttrekker won three and four seats respectively. For the election of 2006 Marijnissen for the fifth time as Lijsttrekker won sixteen seats and the Socialist Party became the third-largest party in 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 ...
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. ...
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 ...
Johannes Guillaume Christianus Andreas Marijnissen was born on 8 October 1952 in Oss in the Dutch Province of
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 ...
in 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 ...
family. After leaving secondary school shortly before the exams, he worked in a number of factories in and around Oss. He then trained as a welder, working for ten years in the metal industry.
Politics
Local politics
Meanwhile, he helped founding the SP in Oss and, in 1975, became the Netherlands' youngest councillor ever. He remained a councillor until 1993, playing a leading role in many campaigns, such as against polluting discharges. The SP's council representation in Oss has grown at every local election and is, as of 2005, the biggest stronghold of the Socialist Party in the Netherlands. Nicknamed "The Wizard of Oss", after his hometown, he became famous when he turned out to be one of the main architects of the Dutch vote that rejected the
European Constitution
The Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe (TCE; commonly referred to as the European Constitution or as the Constitutional Treaty) was an unratified international treaty intended to create a consolidated constitution for the European ...
in June 2005.
In 1987 Marijnissen became the party's first ever provincial assembly member, in
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 ...
. A year later he became the SP's national president. Under his leadership the party was transformed from "a federation of local branches" into a party with a clear national programme, nationally-organised activities and a national profile.
National politics
Beginning in 1994, when the SP made the breakthrough which brought it into 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 ...
, Marijnissen was chairman of the party's parliamentary group. After gaining two out of the 150 parliamentary seats during this first breakthrough, support for him and his party rose slowly but continuously. After four years in parliament, his Socialist Party went under his lead from two to five seats during the national elections of 1998, which was followed by a growth towards nine seats in 2002.
In 2003, after the 87-day term of Balkenende I, the Socialist Party didn't manage to gain more seats than the year before and stayed at the same level with again 9 out of 150 seats. Although there was a slight rise in number of people who voted for the SP compared to a year before, a few weeks before the elections the polls suggested the SP might double.
After the 2004 elections a conflict arose between Jan Marijnissen and Ali Lazrak, when the latter refused to conform to an agreement that required all SP politicians to donate part of their wages. Lazrak accused Marijnissen of dictatorial behavior; an attempt to settle the argument failed and Lazrak left the
fraction
A fraction (from , "broken") represents a part of a whole or, more generally, any number of equal parts. When spoken in everyday English, a fraction describes how many parts of a certain size there are, for example, one-half, eight-fifths, thre ...
on 2 February 2004.
In February 2006 the party was polled on 9.5% of the electorate in the municipal elections. After the untimely end of Balkenende II and the minority government of Balkenende III, the SP won 16 more seats in the 2006 elections to a total of 25, becoming the third party of the Netherlands. Soon after, the party membership passed 50,000.Jan Marijnissen verwelkomt 50.000ste SP-lid met taart en bloemen . Downloaded November 29, 2005
In 2006 a majority of members of parliament voted for his idea to build a National Historic Museum in the Netherlands. In 2007 the Minister of Culture decided the city
Arnhem
Arnhem ( ; ; Central Dutch dialects, Ernems: ''Èrnem'') is a Cities of the Netherlands, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality situated in the eastern part of the Netherlands, near the German border. It is the capita ...
would be its residence.
On 17 June 2008 Marijnissen announced his resignation as chairman of the SP group in the House of Representatives because of health reasons. However, he remains a member of the House of Representatives and chairman of the Socialist Party.
Marijnissen was said to appeal to the 'common man' because of his use of simple language. His appeal is also explained by some observers by his capacity of presenting himself as a valid, more social alternative to the PvdA, which moved into a more centrist
third way
The Third Way is a predominantly centrist political position that attempts to reconcile centre-right and centre-left politics by advocating a varying synthesis of Right-wing economics, right-wing economic and Left-wing politics, left-wing so ...
direction by advocating welfare reforms under the leadership of Prime Minister
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.Samenleven kan je niet alleen '' (You can't live together alone), SP, (1993). ()
* Tegenstemmen, een rood antwoord op Paars '' (Voting against, a red answer to Purple), (Amsterdam/Antwerp: L.J. Veen, 1996). (). This book is also available in English under the title Enough! A socialist bites back '. In 2006 three new English chapters were added with summaries of conclusion in his latter books. In 2007 the book became available in Greece under the title Αρκετά! ''. (Athens: Antilogos, 2007). ()
* Effe Dimmen! Een rebel in Den Haag ''. (Amsterdam/Antwerp: L.J. Veen, 1998). ().
* De laatste oorlog: Gesprekken over de nieuwe wereldorde '' (The last war), (Amsterdam/Antwerp: L.J. Veen, 2000). (). Co-authored with Karel Glastra van Loon. A series of interviews with experts as Lord Carrington, Sir Michael Rose, Hans van den Broek, Noam Chomsky, Rob de Wijk en
Georgi Arbatov
Georgy Arkadyevich Arbatov (; 19 May 1923 – 1 October 2010) was a Soviet–Russian political scientist. He served as an adviser to five General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, General Secretaries of the Communist Party of ...
on international conflicts with special attention to the role of the Dutch in these conflicts.
* Schrale Rijkdom: De erfenis van acht jaar Paars '' (Poor Richness), (Ketch-up Press, 2002). ().
* Nieuw Optimisme '' (New Optimism), (Aspekt, 2003).
*''Hoe dan, Jan'' (But how, Jan?), (Amsterdam/Antwerp: L.J. Veen, 2005). Two Dutch journalist wrote a question/ answer style book about how Marijnissen's ideas could become reality.
*''Waar historie huis houdt'' (Where history lives), (Rap, 2005). In addition to his plea for a National Historic Museum for the Netherlands, Jan Marijnissen reveals his interest in history and the importance of history to a land and its culture.