Rita Verdonk

Maria Cornelia Frederika ( Rita ) Verdonk ( born October 18, 1955 in Utrecht, Netherlands ) is a Dutch politician. She was for the right-wing liberal Volkspartij voor de Vrijheid Democracy (VVD ) Minister for Integration and Immigration in the second and third cabinet of Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende (2003-2006).

When choosing a political leader of the VVD in 2006 she was beaten just by Mark Rutte. Although she was only No. 2 in the list, they received more preferential votes than the list first Rutte, which is very unusual and Rita Verdonk distinguished as a popular politician. In 2007, she left her party after she had been expelled from the VVD Group. She then founded the right-wing populist party Trots op Nederland ( TON). She kept her mandate as non-attached, but lost in the general elections on 9 June 2010. Temporary TON dozens seats were after polls predicted.

Life

Verdonk visited the classical language high school Niels Stensencollege in Utrecht, after which she studied Sociology and Criminology at the Catholic University of Nijmegen Radboud.

Then Verdonk worked in the administration of justice. Until 1988 it was sub- director of the prison in Scheveningen and then the prison " De Schie ' in Rotterdam. Between 1992 and 1996 she worked in the responsible for the management of youth prisons, the Ministry of Interior. From 1996 to 1999 Verdonk worked as a director for the Dutch secret service. From 1999 to 2003 she worked for the international accounting firm KPMG.

Policy

In her student years she was a member of a student activist group called Bond voor Wetsovertreders ( BWO ) (about: Association for lawbreakers ) with strong ties to leftist PSP ( Pacifistisch Socialist Party ). The group was, among others, for the improvement of detention conditions of prisoners. Although Verdonk not struck with the socialist opinions, but criticism of the real existing socialism, she was honored with the nickname " Red Rita ". A former treasurer of the BWO Verdonk suspected to have been a police informant during those years.

VVD Minister 2002-2006

2002 Verdonk was a member of the VVD. On 27 May 2003 she was appointed minister without portfolio in the second Balkenende government with jurisdiction over integration and immigration.

Public opinion is very divided over Verdonk. In December 2005, the Dutch Verdonk chose the best politician of the year, but they also reached the third place on the list of the worst politician of the year. Your rigorous handling of asylum seekers and other immigrants helped her the nickname "Iron Rita ", which alludes to the "Iron Lady" Margaret Thatcher. In January 2006, Verdonk received a Dutch Big Brother Award.

On 4 April 2006 Verdonk announced that she wants to take over the party leadership of the VVD. Other candidates for the party leadership were politically more standing in the middle of State for Education Mark Rutte and the MEPs Jelleke Veenendaal. Verdonk 's chief political adviser Kay van de Linde, who also worked as campaign manager for Pim Fortuyn. On 31 May 2006 Verdonk narrowly lost the runoff election against Mark Rutte with 46 % of votes.

Verdonk announced on 15 May 2006 that Ayaan Hirsi Ali's naturalization declared lapsed and you must be stripped of Dutch citizenship. Ali came back the next day from her parliamentary seat. Verdonk was then accused of playing a political game, but the subsequent lively parliamentary debate and the vote of no confidence could withstand. After another failed vote of no confidence on 28 June 2006, the ruling party D66 withdrew from the Cabinet and Prime Minister Balkenende was forced to dissolve the Cabinet. Until the elections on 22 November 2006 ruled the previous coalition without the D66, as a minority cabinet and again with Verdonk as minister in the same functions.

On 12 December 2006 Verdonk again triggered a government crisis. The newly elected parliament spoke to her from the suspicion that she had refused to accept an act of parliament, which it directed, for the time being no longer to be finally rejected asylum seekers. It was supported it but by Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende, who had linked his own political future with the position as a foreigner Minister Verdonk. Verdonk tenure as minister ended in February 2007 with the inauguration of the Cabinet Balkenende IV, in which the VVD is no longer represented.

In the 2006 elections even Verdonk received an extraordinary number of individual votes: On the list of VVD more voters had a cross on it (the list Second ) made as at the list leader Mark Rutte, a minor sensation and a sign of the divisions within the Liberal Party and its electorate.

Trots op Nederland

On September 13, 2007, she was excluded because of repeated critical remarks from the VVD Group. However, they retained their mandate, formed his own parliamentary group and declared first to want to remain a member of the VVD. When the VVD leadership threatened her with expulsion from the party, she announced her resignation on 17 October 2007 and the founding of a new political movement called Trots op Nederland ( Proud of the Netherlands, TON). On 3 April 2008 Verdonk presented their new organization officially to the public. During the following weeks, reached TON poll ratings of over 15 percent. By the end of 2008, determined by Politieke barometer encouragement for Verdonk, however, fell below five percent.

When selecting the list with 52 735 votes came to 0.6 percent, so that Rita Verdonk re- enter parliament narrowly missed. They blamed the media responsible, who had given her no attention. In March 2010 TON won 62 seats in 39 municipalities. On October 21, 2011 Rita Verdonk announced to quit politics. She wanted to set priorities in their lives.