"Wilhelmus van Nassouwe",usually known just as "Wilhelmus",is the national anthem of both the Netherlands and its sovereign state,the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It dates back to at least 1572,making it the oldest national anthem in use today,provided that the latter is defined as consisting of both a melody and lyrics. Although "Wilhelmus" was not recognized as the official national anthem until 1932,it has always been popular with parts of the Dutch population and resurfaced on several occasions in the course of Dutch history before gaining its present status. It was also the anthem of the Netherlands Antilles from 1954 to 1964.
Democrats 66 is a social liberal and progressive political party in the Netherlands,which positions itself in the centre of the political spectrum. It is a member of the Liberal International (LI) and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE).
The second Balkenende cabinet was the executive branch of the Government of the Netherlands from 27 May 2003 until 7 July 2006. The cabinet was formed by the Christian-democratic Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA),the conservative-liberal People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD),and the social-liberal Democrats 66 (D66) after the election of 2003. The cabinet was a centre-right coalition and had a slim majority in the House of Representatives with Christian Democratic Leader Jan Peter Balkenende serving as Prime Minister. Liberal Leader Gerrit Zalm,a former Minister of Finance,served as Deputy Prime Minister and returned as Minister of Finance,while former Progressive-Liberal Leader Thom de Graaf served as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister without Portfolio for the Interior.
Alexander Pechtold is a retired Dutch politician and art historian. He is a member of Democrats 66.
The 2006 Democrats 66 leadership election was called to elect the new leader of the Democrats 66 after incumbent Boris Dittrich announced his retirement from national politics. Dittrich,who had been the leader of the party since the resignation of Thom de Graaf on 22 January 2003,did not stand for the leadership election. Alexander Pechtold won the election,beating Lousewies van der Laan and six others.
Halima Chehaima is a Belgian beauty pageant titleholder who won the title of Miss Belgium 2007. She also won the Miss International Tourism contest in 2007 in Portugal and represented Belgium in Miss World 2007 in China.
Henk Wijngaard is a Dutch country singer.
Liliane Saint-Pierre is a Belgian pop singer. Hailing from Flanders,she sings mostly in Dutch. She competed at Eurovision Song Contest 1987 with the song "Soldiers of Love".
Boris van der Ham is a Dutch writer,humanist,former politician,and actor. On 23 May 2002,he became a member of the House of Representatives for the Democrats 66 (D66),a social liberal party. From 24 November 2012 to 21 November 2020,he was the president of the Humanistisch Verbond.
The Leader of the Democrats 66 is the most senior politician within the Democrats 66 party in the Netherlands. The post is currently held by Rob Jetten who was elected on 12 August 2023 and will lead the party into the 2023 Dutch general election. Jetten previously served as parliamentary leader of D66 in the House of Representatives from 2018 to 2021 and as Minister for Climate and Energy in the fourth Rutte government.
Jorien Wuite is a Sint Maarten-Dutch civil servant,diplomat,and politician. Born in The Hague,she moved to Sint Maarten aged 32 to work in government. She rose to the position of Minister of Education,Culture,Youth and Sports and served as Minister Plenipotentiary of Sint Maarten in the period 2018–19. She moved back to the European part of the Netherlands due to her election to the House of Representatives in 2021 as a member of the social liberal party Democrats 66 (D66).
We Are Here is a collective of migrants based in Amsterdam,the Netherlands,which campaigns for human rights for its members and all undocumented migrants. The asylum seekers have in many cases had their applications to remain in the Netherlands denied but they either cannot go back or refuse to return to their country of origin. They demand access to social services such as medical care and housing. The group formed in 2012 and by 2015 contained over 200 migrants from around 15 countries.
Samira Rafaela is a Dutch politician of Democrats 66,who has been serving as a Member of the European Parliament since 2019 and was also a member of the Young Democrats.
Lisa Mianti van Ginneken is a Dutch politician of the social liberal party Democrats 66 (D66). She worked as a software developer and later gave organizational trainings. She started serving as chair of the organization Transvisie in 2017 and became a member of parliament after the 2021 general election. Van Ginneken is the first transgender person to be elected into the Dutch House of Representatives,where she is her party's spokesperson for IT,privacy,family law,and mobility.
Nilüfer Gündoğan is a Dutch politician,who was a member of the House of Representatives. She was elected to the House in the 2021 general election on behalf of Volt Netherlands. In February 2022,she was suspended from its parliamentary group following internal reports of unacceptable behavior. Gündoğan had before worked as a consultant and manager.
Jeanet Maria Petronella van der Laan is a Dutch retired footballer,teacher,and politician of the social liberal party Democrats 66 (D66).
Johanna Levina Adriana Boogerd-Quaak is a Dutch politician who served two terms as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) in the European Parliament from 1994 to 1999 and again between 2003 and 2004. She is a member of the Democrats 66 party and of the European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party Group. During her two periods as an MEP,Boogerd-Quaak served on several committees and was vice-chair of each of the Committee on Citizens' Freedoms and Rights,Justice and Home Affairs and the Delegation to the European Economic Area Joint Parliamentary Committee. She was appointed Knight of the Order of Orange-Nassau in 1999.
Wieke Paulusma is a Dutch health professional and politician for the social liberal party Democrats 66 (D66),who has been serving as a member of the House of Representatives since the 2021 general election. She started her career as a nurse and also worked as a health care manager. Besides,Paulusma served on the Groningen municipal council between 2014 and 2021.
