Death of former Prime Minister Wim Kok (80 years old)

Wim Kok, former prime minister and former leader of the PvdA, has died. This made his family known. Kok died Saturday in his hometown of Amsterdam, at the age of eighty, in the presence of his wife Rita, his children and his grandchildren.

Kok was Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 1994 to 2002. He died at the hospital from the aftermath of heart disease

He was "an image of integrity, passionate , of authority, of loyal, incredibly involved, "said Lodewijk Asscher, current leader of the PvdA, following the death of Kok. [19659004] "I voted for the Lower House for the first time in 1994. With the Labor Party, Wim Kok became the largest party – the beginning of the eight-year presidency – a man who could work tirelessly to the good of others He has remained very involved in politics and we remember Wim Kok with great respect and respect and wish his wife Rita, his children and grandchildren, his family, his friends and his family to forcefully deal with this huge loss, "said Asscher.

"Wim Kok was a man to watch, because of his long career in the service world and his great importance to our country," said Prime Minister Mark Rutte in a statement. He describes the former prime minister as "totally reliable, perfectly honest and always focused on a solution".

The PvdA board of directors calls Kok "a fighter, a social democrat at heart and soul, a prime minister of all the Dutch". thanks to Wim, who has been very involved in the people he has represented and, more recently, in society and his Labor Party. With the death of Wim, we lose a great statesman, an honorable and beautiful person. "[19659003] Kok was married to his wife Rita since 1965. They had three children together: Carla, Marcel, and André.

Wim Kok enters politics as a trade unionist

Willem Kok was born on September 29, 1938 In Bergambacht Father Willem Sr. was a construction worker and a skilled carpenter and socialist, active in the union.Wim junior went to secondary school in Gouda, then studied business administration at Nyenrode Training Institute.

His public career began in 1961, when Kok began working in the trade union industry, as an employee of Bouwbond NVV. In the years that followed he was Secretary, Vice President and President of the Netherlands Trade Union Confederation (NVV), Kok was President of the Federation of Dutch Trade Unions (FNV) and Vice-President of the Economic and Social Council (SER) in 1976 and 1985.

In 1986, the trade unionist was elected to the PvdA lower house. He succeeded Joop den Uyl later that year as leader of the party with which he also became leader of the opposition against the Lubbers II cabinet.

As a leader, Kok sought the middle ground between social democracy and liberalism

but his early years in politics were far from easy. Under his responsibility, the national budget deficit had to be addressed. The WAO's disability scheme has been drastically reduced and excise duties on fuel cars have been increased – a measure known as "Kok penny".

As a PvdA leader, Kok changed the course of the party. more towards the political center. In a speech made in 1995, he called it "shaking the ideological pens".

Kok gained international renown as the spearhead of the "Third Way", which sought a compromise between social democracy and liberalism. Among his admirers were former US President Bill Clinton and British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Kok began his career as a national public servant in 1989, becoming Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister at Lubbers III. He held this position until 1994.

Kok became Prime Minister of the Cabinet in 1995.

The Lubbers CDA suffered much in 1994. defeat, paving the way for a coalition government consisting of PvdA, VVD and D66. Kok becomes prime minister of the Belgian government

The Purple I policy gives the PvdA a considerable electoral victory in 1998. The Purple II government then becomes a fact, again with Kok as prime minister. It was initially a popular government, but partly because of the rise of populism under Pim Fortuyn, who attacked the "rubble of Purple", he gradually lost a lot of favor from voters.

Kok announced in 2001 that he was after the 2002 elections wanted to retire. However, he could not serve his sentence: on 16 April 2002, the Prime Minister resigned because of the Srebrenica scandal, which involved the murder of 7,000 Muslim men and boys by the Serbian army while They were under the protection of the Dutchbat Dutchbat.

After the end of his political career, Kok is chiefly supervisor at ING and Shell. The fact that he occupies these positions with such large multinationals – and generates high fees – is causing criticism, as Kok, as prime minister, has just abandoned "exhibitionist enrichment" in the business world.