Lousewies van der Laan | |
---|---|
Parliamentary leader in the House of Representatives | |
In office 3 February 2006 –30 November 2006 | |
Preceded by | Boris Dittrich |
Succeeded by | Alexander Pechtold |
Parliamentary group | Democrats 66 |
Member of the House of Representatives | |
In office 30 January 2003 –30 November 2006 | |
Parliamentary group | Democrats 66 |
Member of the European Parliament | |
In office 20 July 1999 –30 January 2003 | |
Parliamentary group | European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party Group |
Constituency | Netherlands |
Personal details | |
Born | Louse Wies Sija Anne Lilly Berte van der Laan 18 February 1966 Rotterdam,Netherlands |
Political party | Democrats 66 |
Children | 1 son and 1 daughter |
Residence(s) | Amsterdam,Netherlands |
Alma mater | Leiden University (Bachelor of Laws,Master of Laws) Johns Hopkins University (Bachelor of Social Science) |
Occupation | Politician ·Civil servant ·Jurist ·Political consultant ·Nonprofit director ·Lobbyist |
Louse Wies Sija Anne Lilly Berthe "Lousewies" van der Laan (born 18 February 1966) is a retired Dutch politician of the Democrats 66 (D66) party and jurist.
In her youth,Van der Laan lived in Belgium,Germany,and the United States.
She finished high school at the German School in Washington,DC. She obtained the International Baccalaureate at Armand Hammer United World College of the American West (In Montezuma,New Mexico). After graduating in 1984,Van der Laan moved to the Netherlands to study law at the University of Leiden. She specialized in International and European Law and graduated in 1990. Between 1990 and 1991 she studied international relations at the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University at Bologna. After an internship at Greenpeace in Brussels,she became an intern at the cabinet of Dutch European Commissioner Frans Andriessen. [1]
Between 1991 and 1994 she worked for TACIS of the European Commission,where she was responsible for environmental projects. In 1995 she worked as an environmental specialist for the EBRD in London. Between 1995 and 1997 she worked for the Cabinet of Dutch European Commissioner for External Relations,Hans van den Broek. In 1997 she became his spokesperson. [1]
In 1999 she became head of the D66 list for the European elections. She became chairwoman of the parliamentary party and member of the parliamentary party board of the ELDR. In the European Parliament she was active on a range of issue focusing on civil liberties,environmental affairs,budget and international relations. In the European Parliament she was vice-chairwoman of the Committee on Budget Control between 1999 and 2002,vice-chairwoman of the Committee on Liberties and Civil Rights,Justice and Home Affairs between 2002 and 2003. She was member of the Committee on the Rights of the Woman and Equal Chances between 1999 and 2003,the delegation for relations with the Palestinian Authority between 1999 and 2002. Between 1999 and 2002 she was a substitute for the Committee on Environmental Protection,Public Health and Consumers' Policy and a substitute for the delegation for relations with Slovakia. Between 2002 and 2003 she was a substitute for the Budget Committee. She founded the Intergroup on Food Safety,the Campaign for Parliamentary Reform. [1]
In 2003 she switched to the Dutch Parliament. She was the spokeswoman of her party on foreign policy,higher education,justice,technology,European affairs and gay rights. She was the vice-chairwoman of the parliamentary party and the chairwoman of the parliamentary committee on technology policy and vice-chairwoman of the committee on European affairs. In 2004,she and her husband,Dennis Hesseling, [2] a mathematician, [3] had a son that they named "Helix". [4] Van der Laan,who speaks English and Dutch fluently,is raising her son bilingually.
She assumed the parliamentary leadership of D66 in the House of Representatives on 3 February 2006,succeeding Boris Dittrich. Dittrich stepped down after the debate on sending Dutch troops to the Afghan province of Uruzgan. [1]
Lousewies van der Laan lost out to Alexander Pechtold in the June 2006 D66 leadership election. [1]
Van der Laan played a significant role in the downfall of the Second Balkenende cabinet by supporting a motion of no confidence against Minister Rita Verdonk regarding Verdonk's behavior in the matter of Ayaan Hirsi Ali's citizenship. On 4 August 2006,she announced that she would retire from the House of Representatives after the 2006 elections. [1] She describes herself as an agnostic. [5]
After leaving elected office,Lousewies van der Laan ran an international consultancy business,LW International,which included clients like the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster reduction. From January 2009 until 2015 she was employed as the Chef de Cabinet working for the Presidency of the International Criminal Court in The Hague.
Lousewies van der Laan remains active in promoting democracy,inter alia,by working with the National Democratic Institute,including as election observer at the 2007 elections in Morocco and 2009 elections in Lebanon. Since 2008 she has chaired the Dutch National Committee of United World Colleges,which selects students to attend one of the 12 United World Colleges around the world. She is a member of Women on Top,which advocates for more women in high level positions and works against the feminisation of poverty. She sits on various Advisory boards,including the Getu Foundation,the Rainbow Tree Foundation (Stichting De Regenboogboom) and the International Democratic Initiative. She has been a member of the Steering Board of the "Apeldoorn Conference",the bilateral conference between the UK and The Netherlands since 2004. She is a guest lecturer at the University of Maastricht,the Clingendael Institute for International Relations and the Nyenrode Business University.
In 2015 she was appointed to the Board of Directors of ICANN,for a three-year term starting in October 2015. [6] She later served as director of the Dutch branch of Transparency International. [7]
Democrats 66 is a social liberal and progressive political party in the Netherlands,which is positioned 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.
Ingrid Katharina van Engelshoven is a Dutch politician who served as Minister of Education,Culture and Science in the Third Rutte cabinet from 26 October 2017 until 10 January 2022.
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. She served as a Member of the European Parliament between 2019 and 2024,and she was also a member of the Young Democrats.
Laurens Antonius Josephus Maria Dassen is a Dutch politician and former banker. Dassen grew up in Knegsel,studied business administration at Radboud University and worked for ABN AMRO for six years. He has been a member of Volt Netherlands since its foundation in 2018 and was elected to the House of Representatives as his party's lijsttrekker in the 2021 general election.
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. She 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.