Balkenende, Jan Peter

Balkenende, Jan Peter (1956- ), conservative Dutch politician and Prime Minister of the Netherlands (2002- ). Balkenende was born the son of a grain trader in Kapelle, Zeeland, in south-western Netherlands, on May 7, 1956. His early career included working for a Christian television and radio station, as well as time spent on the staff of the research institute of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) party. He also served on the municipal council of Amstelveen, near Amsterdam, and became a professor of both Christian philosophy and economics at the Free University of Amsterdam.

Balkenende entered parliament as a member of the Second Chamber in May 1998, while the CDA was in opposition. He became the party’s financial spokesman, and was also involved with social affairs, justice, and internal affairs. In October 2001, following the party’s third leadership crisis in seven years, Balkenende succeeded Jaap de Hoop Scheffer as leader of the CDA, becoming the first undisputed leader of the party since former prime minister Ruud Lubbers fell from power in 1994. His no-nonsense and natural leadership style, although uncharismatic, proved popular in opinion polls, and started a reverse in the party’s declining fortunes. His refusal to express a preference for any party as a possible partner within a future coalition government saw the CDA emerge as a viable alternative to the centre-left coalition of Wim Kok that had been in office for eight years.

In the May 2002 general election, in which concerns about immigration and crime levels were the main issues, the CDA emerged as the largest party in parliament. Two months later, Balkenende became prime minister of a centre-right coalition that included the populist, anti-immigration party, List Pim Fortuyn, and the right-of-centre business-oriented People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy. Balkenende’s success was widely regarded as signalling an end to years of progressive and liberal legislation in the Netherlands. However, the coalition collapsed after only three months in office and fresh elections were called for January 2003. In another closely fought campaign, the CDA won a slim victory over the Labour Party (PvdA). Negotiations between the CDA and the Labour Party to form a new government failed, and in May Balkenende emerged as the head of a coalition government consisting of the CDA and two small liberal parties. In February 2004 Balkanende's government turned its attention to the controversial question of immigration. It introduced a bill that proposed the forcible expulsion of 26,000 asylum seekers whose applications for residency in the Netherlands had failed. Those who had lived in the country for more than five years, and had clean criminal records, would be granted an amnesty. The bill was criticized by human rights and church groups.

Balkenende supported the proposed constitution for the European Union drawn up by a convention headed by Valéry Giscard d’Estaing, the former president of France. However, when the constitution was put before the Dutch voters in a referendum held in June 2005, it was resoundingly rejected. While accepting that the Dutch government could not ratify the constitution, he insisted that the process of ratification should continue in other EU member states. In 2006 Balkenende’s government ran into more difficulties when the immigration minister, Rita Verdonk, attempted to strip a controversial, Somali-born MP, Ayann Hirsi Ali, of her Dutch citizenship on the basis that she had misled authorities when making her application. In June the D-66 party withdrew from Balkenende’s coalition in protest at the treatment of Hirsi Ali, compelling the prime minister to submit his resignation. The government was re-formed in early July without the participation of D-66. Legislative elections to choose a new government were brought forward from May 2007 to November 2006.

The CDA performed unexpectedly well in the elections, winning 41 seats in the 150-seat Second Chamber of the legislature. In February 2007 a new coalition was formed, led once again by the CDA, but with two new partners—the Labour Party and a small religious party, the Christian Union.