Ivo Opstelten

Biography

Early life

Opstelten studied law at Leiden University, where he specialised in constitutional and public law. He graduated in 1969 and worked from 1970 to 1972 at the municipality of Vlaardingen before starting a long-term career as mayor.

Politics

In 1972 Opstelten began as Mayor of Dalen, at the age of 28 the youngest Mayor of the Netherlands. In 1977 he became Mayor of Doorn. In 1980 he became the Mayor of Delfzijl. In 1983 he became Acting Mayor of Beerta for four months because of the pregnancy of Mayor Hanneke Jagersma. In 1992 he made the switch to the fourth largest Municipality of the Netherlands, Utrecht. In 1999 he was nominated as Mayor of Rotterdam, the second biggest city of the Netherlands. In 2002 he was praised for his handling of the aftermath of the assassination of politician Pim Fortuyn. He served as Mayor of Rotterdam for ten years. He resigned on 1 January 2009. He was succeeded by Ahmed Aboutaleb. On 31 March 2008 he was elected as the new Party chair of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy. On 6 November 2009 it was announced by Wim van de Donk, the Queen's Commissioner of North Brabant, that Opstelten had accepted the position as Acting Mayor of Tilburg after Mayor Ruud Vreeman's resignation was sought by the City council of Tilburg.

On 4 August 2010 Queen Beatrix nominated Opstelten as fifth informateur in the 2010 Dutch cabinet formation. On September 4, the Queen replaced Opstelten with Herman Tjeenk Willink, the Vice President of the Council of State as the new informateur. On 13 September 2010 he became informateur a second time and on September 28 the negotiations were finished. A coalition agreement was reached between People's Party for Freedom and Democracy and Christian Democratic Appeal to form a minority coalition, supported by the Party for Freedom to obtain a majority. Formateur Mark Rutte asked Opstelten as the Minister of Security and Justice in the new cabinet. Because a Party chair can not serve in the cabinet, he resigned as a Party chair of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy on 14 October 2010, the day he took office as the new Minister of Security and Justice.

During his tenure as Minister of Security and Justice, Opstelten was the driving force behind the closure of the majority of The Netherlands' coffeeshops and growshops effectively ending the successful 1970's instituted experiment where soft drugs were tolerated and separated from the hard drugs market. Affiliated with the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) party, Opstelten also imposed many restrictions on the legal and regulated prostitution business in the Netherlands also driving a portion of that business underground.

In the week after his resignation from office, he was interviewed about the increased use of heavy firearms by criminals. He said that maybe in the past firearms didn't have the attention of the authorities, but now they rose to the challenge and he was on it. In reality he had quietly disbanded the task force on heavy weapons two months earlier.

Resignation from office

On 10 March 2015 Opstelten, along with State Secretary Fred Teeven resigned after it was discovered that Teeven, then chief public prosecutor authorized the return of 4.7 million guilders to convicted drugs dealer Cees H. in 2000, without the knowledge of his superior or the tax office.

Throughout 2014, questions had been asked about this drugs deal. Opstelten consistently told parliament that the deal was for 2 million guilders and that they should trust him on that. On 4 March news show Nieuwsuur uncovered evidence that it was actually 4.7 million guilders. Cees H. confirmed this and stated that he did not do the justice department any favor in return, such as testifying. During a press conference on 9 March, Opstelten admitted that convicted drugs baron Cees H. had been paid 4.7 million guilders, not the two million guilders he had consistently told parliament. The next day he resigned. Other politicians were disappointed that he left many questions unanswered by resigning, such as how he could not know the amount despite the deal being orchestrated by his own deputy minister and why the tax service was not involved in the deal.

Preceding the affair which resulted in his resignation, Opstelten was already often accused of not knowing the facts during debates and having difficulty finding words in other cases.

Personal

Ivo Opstelten is married to Mariette Dutilh (born 1945) and they have four children.

Decorations

References

References

1. {{in lang. nl [http://vorige.nrc.nl/article2595149.ece Ivo Opstelten benoemd tot informateur] {{webarchive. link. (2014-07-26 , NRC, 5 August 2010)
2. {{in lang. nl [http://www.elsevier.nl/web/Nieuws/Politiek/275240/Koningin-benoemt-Tjeenk-Willink-weer-tot-informateur.htm Koningin benoemt Tjeenk Willink weer tot informateur] {{webarchive. link. (2011-12-19 , Elsevier, 7 September 2010)
3. {{in lang. nl [http://nos.nl/video/184716-de-complete-persconferentie-van-informateur-opstelten.html De complete persconferentie van informateur Opstelten] {{webarchive. link. (2012-10-17 , NOS, 13 September 2010)
4. {{in lang. nl [http://nos.nl/video/190096-ivo-opstelten-vvd-over-zijn-ministerspost.html Ivo Opstelten (VVD) over zijn ministerspost] {{webarchive. link. (2012-10-15 , NOS, 8 October 2010)
5. {{in lang. en [http://www.dutchnews.nl/news/archives/2015/03/dutch-justice-minister-deputy-resign-over-drugs-dealer-cash-deal/ Dutch justice minister, deputy resign over drugs dealer cash deal], DutchNews, 9 March 2015
6. "On firearms in The Netherlands, segment on Opstelten starts around 21:10". Brandpunt.
7. (10 March 2015). "Timeline Exit Opstelten". NOS.
8. (9 March 2015). "Parliament Understands Deal". NOS.
9. (9 March 2015). "Nieuwsuur Mar 10 (section about Opstelten not knowing the facts is at 16:00)". NOS.