Joop den Uyl was Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 1973 to 1977. He had a lot of influence on the Netherlands, which influence is clearly reflected in, among other things, the Lockheed affair.
Biography
Joop den Uyl was born on August 9, 1919. He was raised in a strict Reformed tradition. However, during his student years he began to break away from his faith, breaking with it completely in 1944. During his student years, den Uyl’s interest in socialist ideas also began to grow.
After the Second World War, den Uyl worked as an editor at Het Parool, and later at Vrij Nederland. When the PvdA was founded in 1946, he immediately joined, and his work for the party began in 1949. Den Uyl became director of the Wia rdi Beckman Foundation (WBS), the scientific bureau of the PvdA, and would remain director until 1962. However, this was not his only position within the PvdA. While den Uyl was director of the WBS, he was also a municipal councilor and for some time leader of the PvdA party in Amsterdam. He was also a Member of Parliament from 1956. This combination of functions came to an end in 1962, and den Uyl became an alderman in Amsterdam. He then resigned as director of the WBS and also canceled his membership of Parliament in 1963. In 1965, den Uyl returned to national politics, he became minister of economic affairs in the Cals cabinet. After the fall of the cabinet, he became party leader in 1967.
The position of party leader was very difficult at that time. A strong renewal movement, the New Left, was active in the PvdA . Den Uyl did not always agree with the New Left, but still had to take them into account because she was supported by a large part of the supporters. He therefore continued to talk to the New Left. After a period of party chairmanship, den Uyl became Prime Minister in 1973.
After the fall of his first cabinet, the next House of Representatives elections were a huge success for den Uyl and the PvdA. The number of seats increased from 43 to 53, and it seemed logical that den Uyl would become prime minister again. Yet that didn’t happen. After 6 months of negotiations, PvdA and CDA came to the conclusion that further talks would be pointless. Ultimately, a cabinet of CDA and VVD was formed and den Uyl became party leader again.
Until 1986 he was party leader and briefly Minister of Social Affairs and Employment. At the elections in 1986 he became party leader again, or party leader as it was then called.
In October 1987 it was announced that den Uyl had an incurable brain tumor, and den Uyl died as a result of this on December 24, 1987.
Influence on the Netherlands
Joop den Uyl was the first socialist prime minister after Willem Drees. He had big plans to reform social security in the Netherlands, there had to be more equality between citizens. The motto of the den Uyl cabinet was: Spread of income, knowledge and power.
There were many things going on in the Netherlands when den Uyl was Prime Minister: the oil crisis, which forced the government to introduce car-free Sundays and petrol distribution, declining employment, a declining economy, the Lockheed affair, a number of hostage-taking actions. by Moluccan groups and the independence of Suriname.
Lockheed affair
Den Uyl’s influence on the Netherlands is best seen in the Lockheed affair. Prince Bernhard was suspected of taking bribes, den Uyl set up a committee to find out what really happened. The committee ultimately concluded that Bernhard had not accepted any bribes, but that the prince had initially entered into transactions far too lightly, which were intended to give the impression that he was sensitive to favors. Queen Juliana is said to have threatened to resign if Bernhard were prosecuted. Den Uyl then decided that the prince would not be prosecuted. Bernhard was punished by having to admit his mistakes, resign his position as Inspector General of the Armed Forces and was no longer allowed to wear a uniform in public. This solution ensured that no crisis arose in the royal family, but that the prince was still punished. Den Uyl was much praised for this smart move that kept the royal family out of harm’s way.