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On 25/12/2022 at 12:27, ThereWillBeDeaths7 said:


Tjerk Westerterp (1930), KVP; Foreign Affairs
 

Tjerk Westerterp dead at 92.

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1 hour ago, drol said:

Tjerk Westerterp dead at 92.

Was a cabinet member from 1971 until 1977 (Biesheuvel I-II and Den Uyl). There are now only one minister (Van Agt, 92) and two state secretaries (Jan van Stuijvenberg, 95 and Jan Oostenbrink, 87) left from the Biesheuvel cabinets.

 

Some fun facts about Westerterp:

He started his political career as a member of the House of Representatives (1963-1978) and the European Parliament (1967-1971).

 

As minister of Transport and Water Management for PM Den Uyl, he enforced the mandatory wearing of a helmet on mopeds and a seatbelt in cars in the Netherlands; this occured in 1974.

 

After his career in politics he founded the AEX-index, the most important economic index in the Netherlands in 1983.

 

Honouring his former job as minister of Transport and Water Management, he caused a traffic accident in 2000 after driving under the influence of alcohol; one person was hospitalised. 

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Former politician Adriaan Nooteboom has passed away at 95.

He was state secretary for Finance (1977-1980) in the first Van Agt-cabinet. He began his political career as a member of the CHU, which would fusion into the CDA in 1980.

 

His passing means Dries van Agt is now the oldest surviving member of all three of his own cabinets.

 

 

[Top 3 oldest cabinet members]

1. Jan van Stuijvenberg (wiki, nl) (1928) DS'70

- State secretary for the Interior (1971-1972)

 

2. Michel van Hulten (wiki) (1930) PPR

- State secretary for Transport and Water Management (1973-1977)

 

3. Dries van Agt (wiki) (1931) KVP/CDA

- Minister of Justice (1971-1977)

- Deputy Prime Minister (1973-1977)

- Prime Minister (1977-1982)

- Minister of Foreign Affairs (1982)

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On 14/08/2022 at 23:34, DoorSlammer said:

Frits Bolkestein (1933). Former European Commissioner who also has EU law named after him. Physically he has been very frail for years, he's diabetic and his most recent public appearance seems to have been October last year. Earlier this year he was 'physically unable to comment' when his former political prodigy was revealed to have connections with a terrorist organisation, too.

Not surprising, but it has now been officially confirmed Bolkestein is ailing and has been for a while.

 

Out of the three 90+ former political giants (Van Agt, Terlouw and him) I'll be very surprised if Terlouw won't the last one standing, as he's still active. Meanwhile, Van Agt has been unusually quiet about the Israel-Palestine war and in this photo from March of this year his clothes seems to suggest he lives in a care home now.

 

 

 

 

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On 30/10/2023 at 17:49, ThereWillBeDeaths7 said:

Former politician Adriaan Nooteboom has passed away at 95.

He was state secretary for Finance (1977-1980) in the first Van Agt-cabinet. He began his political career as a member of the CHU, which would fusion into the CDA in 1980.

 

His passing means Dries van Agt is now the oldest surviving member of all three of his own cabinets.

 

 

[Top 3 oldest cabinet members]

1. Jan van Stuijvenberg (wiki, nl) (1928) DS'70

- State secretary for the Interior (1971-1972)

 

2. Michel van Hulten (wiki) (1930) PPR

- State secretary for Transport and Water Management (1973-1977)

 

3. Dries van Agt (wiki) (1931) KVP/CDA

- Minister of Justice (1971-1977)

- Deputy Prime Minister (1973-1977)

- Prime Minister (1977-1982)

- Minister of Foreign Affairs (1982)

Not any more.

 

Dries Van Agt reportedly dead: https://nos-nl.translate.goog/artikel/2508141-oud-premier-dries-van-agt-93-overleden?_x_tr_sl=nl&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=sc&_x_tr_hist=true

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52 minutes ago, YoungWillz said:

Although he had been ailing for years, hearing the news on the radio still surprised me. What's more: he passed away last monday (Feb 6), a few days after his 93rd birthday and had already been buried before his death was announced.

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4 minutes ago, ThereWillBeDeaths7 said:

had already been buried before his death was announced.

That's not too uncommon with our A-listers. Willem Drees, Drs. P, Rutger Hauer, Pierre Kartner (Father Abraham) and Marga Minco are other examples of people who were already buried before their deaths were announced. 

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24 minutes ago, ThereWillBeDeaths7 said:

Although he had been ailing for years, hearing the news on the radio still surprised me. What's more: he passed away last monday (Feb 6), a few days after his 93rd birthday and had already been buried before his death was announced.

 

According to the AD he and his wife decided on euthenasia.

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5 minutes ago, Vaagheid said:

 

According to the AD he and his wife decided on euthenasia.

The ending you expect from Dries Van Agt.

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1 minute ago, Vaagheid said:

 

According to the AD he and his wife decided on euthenasia.

This was news to me, I hadn't realized Eugenie had also passed away. After reading the article, it seems to me that they had quite a "nice" death. Both of them had been in ailing health, and they held hands as they both passed away. Also spared them of having to miss one another after 65 years of marriage.

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A follow-up post about Dries van Agt's passing:

 

- Van Agt served as a member of parliament for KVP and later CDA, being the first ever political leader of the CDA. He became Minister of Justice in 1971, serving until 1977. During his time as a minister, a train was hijacked near the village of De Punt by 9 Moluccan nationalists, starting a hostage crisis which lasted for 20 days. In trying to end the crisis, intervention by counter-terrorist special forces possibly contributed to the deaths of two hostages, in addition to 6 of the hijackers.

 

- Van Agt was Deputy Prime Minister from 1973-1977 under Joop den Uyl (1919-1987), thereafter leading three cabinets Van Agt between 1977-1982. During his tenure as PM, Queen Juliana abdicated and Queen Beatrix' coronation took place under tumultuous circumstances: there were riots in Amsterdam because of a housing shortage.

 

- After his career in national politics, he served as Queen's Commissioner of North Brabant between 1983-1987, ending his political career as an EU ambassador 1987-1995.

 

 

The oldest and earliest serving Dutch Prime Minister is now Jan-Peter Balkenende (b. 1956), serving from 2002-2010. The only other living Dutch PM is the current one, Mark Rutte (b. 1967).

 

After Van Agt's death, there are no living ministers from the cabinets Biesheuvel I and II (1971-1973).

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Is Van Agt actually the first ever former head of state to be euthenised. Because I know it is still illegal in a lot of countries.

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36 minutes ago, Vaagheid said:

Is Van Agt actually the first ever former head of state to be euthenised. Because I know it is still illegal in a lot of countries.

A Prime Minister isn't the head of state, they are the head of government.

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2 hours ago, Vaagheid said:

Is Van Agt actually the first ever former head of state to be euthenised. Because I know it is still illegal in a lot of countries.

 

No, not at all. One of the most notable cases was 88 years ago:

 

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.express.co.uk/news/royal/1664887/king-george-v-death-euthanasia-noble-blood-podcast-spt/amp

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5 hours ago, Tango854 said:

A Prime Minister isn't the head of state, they are the head of government.


They can sometimes be head of state but it’s rare. Also, sometimes they’re in charge of the cabinet but not head of government e.g. in South Korea.

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