Frits Wester | |
|---|---|
 Wester in 2010 | |
| Born | 29 March 1962 |
| Occupation | Journalist |
Frits Wester (born 29 March 1962) is a Dutch journalist. He is best known as parliamentary correspondent for RTL Nieuws.
Frits Wester | |
|---|---|
| Wester in 2010 | |
| Born | 29 March 1962 |
| Occupation | Journalist |
Frits Wester (born 29 March 1962) is a Dutch journalist. He is best known as parliamentary correspondent for RTL Nieuws.
Wester was born in 1962 in the Dutch town Veenendaal. He was already engaged in politics at a young age, and was a co-founder of the youth wing of the Christian Democrats, CDJA (CDA-jongeren) in Alkmaar. When he was 22, he was involved in local organizations that were active on a range of political hot topics, including abortion, euthenesia, unemployment and nuclear arms. [1]
He was the driver of the leader of the Christian Democrats (CDA) in the House of Representatives Bert de Vries, which was his introduction to national politics. He was offered a job at the group's communications department and became the personal spokesperson for Elco Brinkman, a prominent politician. In the campaign for the 1994 parliamentary elections, he came up with the concept of a walk-and-talk presentation, which was then dubbed the 'Brinkman Shuffle'.
The elections didn't turn out favorable for CDA though, and as they lost 20 seats they were not part of the new coalition government. As the first Purple coalition was formed, Brinkman left parliament and Wester started working as a journalist at RTL Nieuws. He was a frequent guest at the popular late night talk show Barend & Van Dorp and at the business channel RTL Z. He built a reputation to be the first with political news, and was able to publish the national budget before its embargo ended at Prinsjesdag (start of the parliamentary year and speech from the throne). He remained a member of CDA.
In 2005 he claimed during an interview that he was approached short after Pim Fortuyn's death to become State Secretary for immigration and later for media. He claimed that he refused both times because he enjoyed being a journalist. During the 2006 elections he stated in another interview that he would be available as State Secretary if Jan Peter Balkenende would hypothetically ask him (he later said to have misspoken). [2]
In 2004, Wester won the Nationale Nieuwsquiz, a national news quiz. It was claimed that he would have cheated and been provided with at least one correct answer by another contestant that had seen the script, [3] which Wester denied. [4] In 2008 he appeared in the first season of the television show 5 jaar later .
In September 2019, Wester took some time off for health reasons – which later turned out to be an alcohol addiction. [5] This meant that he was unable to report on Prinsjesdag that year. [6] Wester visited an addiction clinic in South-Africa during this professional break and he arrived back home at the end of October. [7]
The People's Party for Freedom and Democracy is a conservative-liberal political party in the Netherlands. The VVD, whose forerunner was the Freedom Party, is a party of the centre-right, which promotes private enterprise and economic liberalism.
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The First Lubbers cabinet was the executive branch of the Dutch Government from 4 November 1982 until 14 July 1986. The cabinet was formed by the christian-democratic Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) and the conservative-liberal People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) after the election of 1982. The cabinet was a right-wing coalition and had a substantial majority in the House of Representatives with Christian Democratic Leader Ruud Lubbers serving as Prime Minister. Prominent Liberal politician Gijs van Aardenne, a former Minister of Economic Affairs, served as Deputy Prime Minister and returned Minister of Economic Affairs.
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Following the 2006 Dutch general election, held on November 22, a process of cabinet formation started, involving negotiations about which coalition partners to form a common programme of policy and to divide the posts in cabinet. On February 22, 2007 it resulted in the formation of the Fourth Balkenende cabinet.
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General elections were held in the Netherlands on Wednesday 15 March 2017 to elect all 150 members of the House of Representatives.
General elections were held in the Netherlands from 15 to 17 March 2021 to elect all 150 members of the House of Representatives. Following the elections and lengthy coalition formation talks, the sitting government remained in power.
The third Rutte cabinet was the cabinet of the Netherlands from 26 October 2017 until 10 January 2022. It was formed by a coalition government of the political parties People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA), Democrats 66 (D66) and Christian Union (CU) after the general election of 2017.
Hugo Mattheüs de Jonge is a Dutch politician serving as Minister of the Interior and Kingdom Relations and as Minister of Housing and Spatial Planning, since 2023 and 2022, respectively, in the Fourth Rutte cabinet. A member of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA), he was elected to its leadership in 2020 for the 2021 Dutch general election. He withdrew later that year, citing an impossibility to combine his position as Health Minister in charge of the COVID-19 pandemic efforts with his party leadership.
The Dutch farmers' protests are a series of demonstrations by Dutch livestock farmers, characterised by the use of tractors to block roads, and occupy public spaces. The protests were initially triggered in October 2019 by a proposal in parliament to halve the country's livestock in an attempt to limit agricultural pollution in the Netherlands, but protesting farmers have frequently told media that they are motivated by a perceived lack of respect for their profession by the Dutch populace, media and politicians. The protests combined several action groups and an amalgamation of larger goals, which included less government regulation for farmers, more air time for pro-farmer sentiments, and more policy to punish Shell and Tata Steel for their part in the emission crisis.
5 jaar later is a Dutch television show presented by Beau van Erven Dorens. In each episode a well-known Dutch person's life is discussed based on an interview that was recorded five years earlier and kept in a vault for years.
Early general elections were held in the Netherlands on 22 November 2023 to elect the members of the House of Representatives. The elections had been expected to be held in 2025 but a snap election was called after the fourth Rutte cabinet collapsed on 7 July 2023 due to immigration policy disagreements. The incumbent prime minister Mark Rutte announced that he would not lead his party into the election and retired from politics.
A process of cabinet formation took place following the 2021 Dutch general election, leading to the formation of the Fourth Rutte cabinet in 2022. The coalition consisted of People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), Democrats 66 (D66), Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) and Christian Union (CU), the same parties that formed the preceding Third Rutte cabinet. At 299 days, it was the longest formation in Dutch history.
The fourth Rutte cabinet is the current cabinet of the Netherlands. It was inaugurated on 10 January 2022. The cabinet is a continuation of the third Rutte cabinet and is formed by the conservative liberal People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), the social liberal Democrats 66 (D66) and the Christian democratic Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) and Christian Union (CU) after the election of 2021. The cabinet fell on 7 July 2023, after failing to reach an agreement on separate treatment of refugees fleeing from war. As a result, the cabinet became demissionary.
New Social Contract is a political party in the Netherlands launched and led by Pieter Omtzigt. The party intends to focus on its main themes of good governance and social security.
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