Background
Jan Pieter Balkenende Jr. was born on 7 May 1956 in Biezelinge in the province of Zeeland in Reformed family, the son of Jan Pieter Balkenende Sr. a cereal grains merchant and Thona Johanna Sandee, a teacher.
Jan Pieter Balkenende Jr. was born on 7 May 1956 in Biezelinge in the province of Zeeland in Reformed family, the son of Jan Pieter Balkenende Sr. a cereal grains merchant and Thona Johanna Sandee, a teacher.
During his childhood, Balkenende was an active supporter of the Dutch football team PSV Eindhoven, along with his father he frequented many matches. He also regularly visited the local music school and theatre. Balkenende went to a Reformed Protestant primary school in Kapelle. He attended secondary school at the "Christian Lyceum for Zeeland" in Goes, graduating in 1974. He studied at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, where he received a Master of Arts degree in history in 1980, a Master of Laws degree in Law in 1982, and finally a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Law in 1992.
He began his career on the staff of the research institute of the Christen Democratisch Appèl (CDA) party and as a city councillor in Amstelveen. He later became a special professor of "Christian-Social Thinking" at the Free University of Amsterdam.
Balkenende first entered the Tweede Kamer (lower house) of the Netherlands Parliament on 19 May 1998, while the CDA was in opposition. He became the CDA's financial spokesman and was also involved with social affairs, justice, and internal affairs. In this role he advocated a substantial reduction of the national debt and sound public finances.
He was elected chairman of the parliamentary CDA on 1 October 2001 in succession to Jaap de Hoop Scheffer. On 3 November 2001, he was appointed lijsttrekker (head of the list of candidates) for the CDA in the May 2002 parliamentary elections. These elections became historic when rightwing populist Pim Fortuyn was shot dead and the election campaign was halted. The result of the election restored the CDA former position as the largest political party in the Dutch parliament.
On 4 July 2002 Queen Beatrix asked Balkenende to form a new government, in the wake of the resignation of Prime Minister Wim Kok. Balkenende's first government (including the LPF party of slain politician Pim Fortuyn) fell after just 86 days in office because of infighting in the LPF which destabilized the government. After early elections in 2003 Balkenende formed his second cabinet with the conservative-liberal VVD and the progressive liberal D66. Again a center-right coalition. Balkenende's policies centered around reform of the Dutch public services, reducing crime, tough immigration policy and historically large cuts in public spending. The measures gave rise to large public anger and bad results in opinion polls for his CDA party. Nonetheless, his party remained the largest Dutch delegation in the European Parliament after the European Elections, beating the general expectation of a huge loss in parliamentary seats.
Balkenende currently resides with his wife and his daughter Amelie in Capelle aan den IJssel. He rented an apartment in The Hague, which caused a political row since it cost the Dutch government 9,000 euro a month, whilst his prime ministerial residence was renovated. Only a few months after Balkenende took residence a fire destroyed the first floor of the house. Forcing Balkenende to again look for alternative housing.
Internationally, he is perhaps most famous for his strong resemblance to Harry Potter. Which makes him especially popular with young kids, but is also the source of some derision. On the first of July 2004, he took up the rotating presidency of the European Union.
He has received numerous honorary degrees such as:
Honorary Doctorate in Laws, Hope College (Holland, Michigan, United States, 7 September 2012), an honorary doctorate in Human Letters, Hofstra University (Hempstead, New York, United States, 22 May 2011), an honorary doctorate in Sociology, Yonsei University (Seoul, South Korea, 27 April 2010), an honorary doctorate in Systems, Design and Management, Keio University (Tokyo, Japan, 27 October 2009), an honorary doctorate in Theology, Károli Gáspár University of the Hungarian Reformed Church (Budapest, Hungary, 10 October 2005).
While being a very religious person he stands up for adequate upbringing for young people, strict policy for immigrants, saving Christian values in society. “Even if nobody visits church it doesn’t mean that Christian basis is destroyed” - said Balkenende during the interview in the newspaper “Handelsblad”. The prime-minister respects other religions, Islam particularly. “Islam – is the part of the European heritage and European identity. Not only Roman, Greek or Judeo-Christian traditions exist in Europe, Islam and Arabic influences also exist. From my point of view Turkey- he points out- may influence in a very good way on other Muslim countries."
He was a member of the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands and since 1 May 2004 a member of the Protestant Church in the Netherlands.
He was elected to the House of Representatives following the general election of 1998, serving from 19 May 1998 until 22 July 2002. After the then Leader of the Christian Democratic Appeal and parliamentary leader in the House of Representatives Jaap de Hoop Scheffer stepped down after an internal power struggle between him and then party chair Marnix van Rij, Balkenende was selected to succeed him in both positions, and became lijsttrekker (top candidate) for the Dutch general election of 2002. The Christian Democratic Appeal became the surprising winner of the election, gaining 14 seats becoming the largest party in the House of Representatives. This success was in part owed to Balkenende's neutral attitude in the debates with Pim Fortuyn, the eponymous leader of the Pim Fortuyn List party who was assassinated during the national election campaign on 6 May 2002.
Balkenende has a close relationship with the Dutch people from Suriname and the Netherlands Antilles. He has visited several Keti Koti celebrations in recent years.
Quotations: “We must do our best in order to strengthen the ties between European countries and USA in spite of terroristic attacks.”
In 2004, during his second cabinet, Balkenende was diagnosed with necrotizing fasciitis. He was treated through surgical debridement and made a full recovery after several weeks in the hospital.
Quotes from others about the person
On 4 June 2005, the Belgian Minister of Foreign Affairs Karel De Gucht said in the Flemish newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws (The Latest News) that "Balkenende is a mix of Harry Potter and a petty rigid bourgeois mentality". This comparison caused a small diplomatic controversy, and the Belgian ambassador had to apologize to Ben Bot, the Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs. Retired deputy prime minister Hans Wiegel commented he preferred Harry Potter to the Manneken Pis.
