Hilbrand Nawijn

Infobox Politician



name = Hilbrand Nawijn
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small_| office = Dutch Minister for Integration and Immigration
term_start = 2002
term_end = 2003
predecessor = "None"
successor = Rita Verdonk
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birth_date = Birth date and age|1948|8|8|mf=y
birth_place = Kampen, Netherlands
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party = Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA), Lijst Pim Fortuyn (LPF), Party for the Netherlands (PVN)
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Hilbrand Pier Anne Nawijn (born August 8, 1948) is a Dutch politician, a former Member of the Dutch Parliament, and until June 22, 2005, a member of Lijst Pim Fortuyn.

Nawijn was born in Kampen. After graduating Emelwerda College in Emmeloord he studied law at the Rijksuniversiteit Groningen. Following a long career working for the Dutch Ministry of Justice he was elected in 2002 as a member of the Christen-Democratisch Appèl for the city council of Zoetermeer. Nawijn was an early supporter of the Dutch politician Pim Fortuyn and in 2002, when Fortuyn founded the Lijst Pim Fortuyn, Nawijn earned a place on the list. Despite the assassination of Fortuyn, days before the election, the LPF emerged with a successful result, thus bringing Nawijn into the Dutch Lower House. He was appointed Minister for Integration and Immigration in the first Balkenende cabinet.

Due to the instability of the LPF following Fortuyn's assassination, the first Balkenende cabinet lasted shortly, leading to early elections in 2003. Due to Nawijn's controversial conservative positions such as his support of the death penalty, he was placed at the bottom of the LPF's electoral list. This should have made it almost impossible for Nawijn to be reelected, however, the same statements which made him so unpopular to the political establishment won him a following among voters. Thus on election day Nawijn received enough individual votes to once again enter the Tweede Kamer.

Despite still being a member of the LPF, Nawijn often butted heads within the party. In January 2005 he left the totally fragmented LPF with the eventual goal of founding his own political party. He also maintained good relations with the increasingly powerful Flemish party Vlaams Belang. [http://www.vlaamsbelangvlaamsparlement.org/index.php?p=persmededelingen&id=197] . In the Dutch municipal elections of 2006, Nawijn managed, with his own new party, to gather 5 out of 39 seats in his hometown Zoetermeer. [http://www.zoetermeer.nl/index.php?mediumid=31&pagid=2010] . He entered later that year the 2006 Dutch elections with a new party, the Partij voor Nederland ("Party for the Netherlands"), but obtained no seats at all.

In 2007, Nawijn participated in the Dutch version of "So You Wanna Be a Popstar?", broadcast by SBS6. He is now set on a musical career, bringing out a single in May 2007, "Hey Jumpen", in the jumpstyle genre.

External links

* http://www.hilbrand-nawijn.nl