Dries van Agt

Andreas Antonius Maria "Dries" van Agt (ˈdris fɑn ˈɑxt;^[a] 2 February 1931 – 5 February 2024) was a Dutch politician, jurist and diplomat who served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 19 December 1977 until 4 November 1982. He was a prominent leader of the Catholic People's Party (KVP) and later its successor party, the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA).

Van Agt was known for his abilities as a skilled debater and negotiator. During his premiership, his cabinets were responsible for several major public sector and civil service reforms and further reducing the deficit following the recession in the 1980s. Van Agt continued to comment on political affairs as a statesman until he suffered a major stroke in May 2019 which forced him to undergo rehabilitation. He held the distinction as the oldest living and earliest serving former prime minister following the death of Piet de Jong in July 2016, until his death by assisted suicide in February 2024.

Early life

Van Agt was born and grew up in Geldrop. Van Agt was the son of textile manufacturer Frans van Agt (1899–1974) and Anna Frencken (1902–1978). He was the eldest of five children. He was a great-great-grandson of Godefridus Marcelis Frencken, who served as mayor of Asten from 1843 to 1904.^[1]

Education

He attended gymnasium-A at the Augustinianum in Eindhoven from 1943 to 1949, where his future fellow minister Hans Gruijters was a classmate of his.^[1] He subsequently studied law at the Catholic University of Nijmegen. He graduated cum laude with his master of laws in June 1955, specialising in private law.^[2]

For the first two years of his studies, Van Agt was not active within the N.S.V. Carolus Magnus (N.S.C.) following a 'terrible' hazing. In the academic year 1951–1952, Van Agt was the first abactis to serve on the board of the senate of the N.S.C., under the leadership of the later KVP chairman and minister Fons van der Stee as preses. His fellow student Eugenie Krekelberg was second abactis, to whom Van Agt became engaged as early as 1951. In the academic year 1952–1953, he was himself preses of the senate. As preses, he reformed the hazing practices of the association and opened a 'meeting centre' for boys and girls.^[2]

Legal and academic career (1955–1971)

Due to varicose veins, Van Agt avoided military service. From 1956 to 1958 he worked as a lawyer in Eindhoven. He then worked until 1963 at the Directorate of Legal and Business Organisational Affairs of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Supply, and until 1968 at the public law legislation department of the Ministry of Justice. After a brief period as a research associate, he was professor of criminal law and criminal procedure law at the Catholic University of Nijmegen from 1968 to 1971.^[2] Upon his departure, he was known according to de Gelderlander as a capable, tolerant and progressive jurist.^[3]

Political career

Minister and deputy prime minister

Van Agt entered politics as a member of the Catholic People's Party, which merged with the other two major Christian democratic parties in 1980 to form the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA). From 1968 to 1971, Van Agt was Professor of Criminal Law at the Catholic University of Nijmegen. From 1971 to 1973, he served as Minister of Justice in the first and second Biesheuvel cabinets.^[4] He caused outrage when he tried to pardon the last three Nazi war criminals still in Dutch prisons (known as The Breda Four) in 1972. From 1973 to 1977, he served as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Justice in the Den Uyl cabinet.^[4]

Leader of the Christian Democratic Appeal

In 1976, Van Agt was elected the first Leader of the Christian Democratic Appeal, then still a federation of the three confessional parties: the Christian Historical Union, the Catholic People's Party and the Anti-Revolutionary Party, which contested with a united list for the first time in the 1977 general election (the merger followed in 1980). With Van Agt as its lead candidate, the Christian Democratic Appeal reversed years of decline in 1977 and returned to power.

Prime minister in the Van Agt I cabinet

In the parliamentary election of May 1977, the Labour Party (PvdA) obtained its largest number of seats, so a second Den Uyl cabinet seemed likely. However, the tension between the Catholic People's Party and the Labour Party in the last coalition, combined with the fact that a coalition between the Christian Democratic Appeal and the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) was possible, the talks failed after a period of seven months. Eventually Van Agt negotiated a deal with VVD leader Hans Wiegel. From 19 December 1977 to 11 September 1981, Van Agt served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands and Minister of General Affairs in the Van Agt I cabinet.

Prime minister in the Van Agt II cabinet

In 1981 general election, the CDA and the VVD both lost parliamentary seats, so a continuation of the CDA–VVD coalition was not possible, and Van Agt was forced to enter into a coalition with the Labour Party and the Democrats 66 (which, under Jan Terlouw, had gained a significant number of seats). Three months of difficult negotiations resulted in the Van Agt II cabinet (11 September 1981 – 29 May 1982). In this composition, Van Agt worked with Joop den Uyl again as Den Uyl was made Deputy Prime Minister and "super minister" of Social Affairs and Employment. The characterological and political differences led to several divisions, and in May 1982 the government fell.

The personal strife between Van Agt and Den Uyl had deteriorated to such an extent that when Den Uyl died from a brain tumor in 1987, Van Agt was not invited to the memorial service by the family. Den Uyl's wife Liesbeth argued that Van Agt had prevented the second Den Uyl cabinet from forming in 1977.

Prime minister in the Van Agt III cabinet

The caretaker government continued as a minority cabinet, with only ministers from the parties Christian Democratic Appeal and Democrats 66, in the Van Agt III cabinet. For replacing the six Labour Party ministers, five new Christian Democratic Appeal and Democrats 66 ministers were appointed, while Van Agt, in addition to being prime minister, took the position of Minister of Foreign Affairs upon him.

A new parliamentary election was planned for September 1982. Although Van Agt by this point was worn out, he was persuaded to lead his party's list again, but shortly after the election he withdrew as a candidate for prime minister and was succeeded by Ruud Lubbers.

After politics

Diplomat

Dries van Agt served as Ambassador of the European Community to Japan from 1987 to 1990 and to the United States from 1990 to 1995. From 1995 to 1996, he was a visiting professor of International Relations at the University of Kyoto.

Professor

Until his death, Van Agt was Prime Counsellor for the International Forum for Justice and Peace, a foundation under Dutch law, registered at the Chamber of Commerce in Amsterdam. Chaired by retired international businessman Ben Smoes, they are currently focused on justice and peace regarding the Israeli–Palestinian conflict.

Activism

Van Agt lectured in Cairo in May 2006 at the invitation of the Egyptian electronic magazine Arab-West Report about great changes in the cultural climate of north-western Europe in the past decades, becoming more hostile to religion, including Islam. Muslims, he argued, need to understand those changes to be able to respond better to European criticism of Islam and the Muslim world.^[5]

Van Agt also spoke against the Council of State in Egypt for continuous delay in granting the Center for Arab-West Understanding (CAWU) the NGO status. He met with prominent figures in Egypt to persuade them to do so. The Egyptian Council of State, after van Agt's visit to Cairo in 2006, ruled on 18 February 2007 that the center should be recognized as an NGO under Egyptian law, ending its three-year struggle to obtain this status. Egypt is known for its reluctance in granting NGO status to discourage political participation. Cornelis Hulsman, a Dutch sociologist, the editor-in-chief of Arab-West Report, and the head of CAWU, stated that van Agt's effort significantly impacted the realization of their goals, which usually requires a lengthy amount of time and scrutiny in its political purposes.

For some years, Van Agt took an outspoken stance regarding the Middle East, resulting in a fierce criticism of the policies undertaken by the government of Israel with regard to the Palestinians. When in office, Van Agt had been a staunch supporter of Israel, but after he stepped down in 1982, he changed his mind.^[6] According to his own words an important turning point was a visit at the late nineties at Bethlehem University on the Israeli-occupied West Bank.^[7][8] He accused Israel of "state terrorism" and turning the Palestinian Authority territories into "bantustans".^[9]

In 2009, Van Agt founded The Rights Forum, a non-profit organization aimed at promoting a “just and sustainable Dutch and European policy regarding the Palestine/Israel issue”.^[10] In 2012, he said that Jews should have had a state in Germany instead of Israel.^[11] In September 2016, in reference to the visit of Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu to the Netherlands, Van Agt argued that the ongoing Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories and the building of settlements there constituted a war crime under the Rome Statute and suggested that Netanyahu should have been sent to the International Criminal Court.^[12]

Personal life and death

Van Agt was known for his use of archaic language and complicated phrasing, as well as for his love for cycling. He married Eugenie Krekelberg in 1958, and they had three children^[4] and seven grandchildren, including professional cyclist Eva van Agt. In 2012, he joined the advisory board of the International Museum for Family History. Van Agt lived in Heilig Landstichting, near Nijmegen, until his death.

Van Agt and his wife, after choosing euthanasia, died on 5 February 2024, three days after his 93rd birthday.^[13] According to family, the couple died holding hands.^[14] Van Agt had previously suffered a debilitating brain hemorrhage while giving a speech in 2019.^[10]

Decorations

Honours

Awards

Honorary degrees

Notes

1. ^ van in isolation: vɑn.

Sources

• Van Merriënboer, Johan; Bootsma, Peter; Van Griensven, Peter (2008). Van Agt Biografie. Tour de Force (in Dutch). ebook ed. Amsterdam: Boom. ISBN 978-94-6127-309-3.

References

1. ^ Van Merriënboer, Bootsma & Van Griensven 2008, ch. 'Wandelen in de zon in Brabant'.
2. ^ Van Merriënboer, Bootsma & Van Griensven 2008, ch. 'Vakjurist'.
3. ^ Van Merriënboer, Bootsma & Van Griensven 2008, ch. 'Voor de Katholieke Volkspartij op Justitie'.
4. ^ "Wie is Dries van Agt?" (in Dutch). NTR Focus. Archived 1 April 2020 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
5. ^ For the full text of his lecture, entitled, "Cultures between Clash and Reconciliation: The Role of the Media and Academia," see AWR, 2006, week 53, art. 3
6. ^ "Former Dutch PM champions Palestinian cause" Archived 13 December 2009 at the Wayback Machine, Radio Netherlands Worldwide (10 December 2009).
7. ^ (in Dutch) "De bekering van Dries van Agt" Archived 19 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine, HP|DE TIJD, 29 September 2006
8. ^ (in Dutch) "Ik kan het wel uitschreeuwen" Archived 20 September 2016 at the Wayback Machine, interview oud-premier Dries van Agt, NRC Handelsblad, 22 August 2009
9. ^ Cnaan Liphshiz, 'Dutch Jimmy Carter' accuses Israel of terrorism in new book Archived 28 May 2017 at the Wayback Machine Haaretz (27 June 2008).
10. ^ "Former Dutch Prime Minister Dries van Agt and his wife die 'hand in hand' by euthanasia at age 93". Associated Press. 9 February 2024. Archived 9 February 2024 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 10 February 2024.
11. ^ Former Dutch PM: Jews should have had a state in Germany Archived 27 October 2018 at the Wayback Machine, The Times of Israel (11 November 2012).
12. ^ Cockburn, Harry (6 September 2016). "Former Dutch PM calls Benjamin Netanyahu a 'war criminal' who should be tried in The Hague". independent.co.uk. Archived 16 June 2024 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 27 September 2016.
13. ^ "Oud-premier Dries van Agt (93) overleden" (in Dutch). NOS. 2024-02-09. Archived 18 March 2024 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2024-02-09.
14. ^ "Oud-premier Dries van Agt (93) overleden: 'Hij stierf hand in hand samen met zijn vrouw Eugenie'" [Van Agt and wife "died holding hands"]. Retrieved 9 February 2024.

External links

• (in Dutch) Mr. A.A.M. (Dries) van Agt Parlement & Politiek