Tineke Huizinga
Encyclopedia
Johanna Catharina Huizinga-Heringa (Dantumadiel, 16 February 1960) is a former Dutch politician
. She was a Member of Parliament for the ChristianUnion
from 2002 to 2007. From 2007 till 2010 she was a Secretary of State
and in 2010 Minister
of Environment and Spatial Planning
.
Huizinga grew up in Amersfoort
; both of her parents were teachers. After attending gymnasium
, she began to study law
at the University of Utrecht. She became involved in the Christian student's association Ichtus, where she met her future husband. They married in 1982. After passing her candidate exams (roughly equivalent of a bachelor's degree
), she stopped her studies and moved to Heerenveen
. She became a housewife and mother of three children.
She volunteered as translator at a Christian foundation, Open Doors
, which advocates the interest of persecuted Christians worldwide. She became involved in the cases of asylum seekers and refugees and worked as a volunteer for VluchtenlingenWerk Nederland. Because of her involvement with social and religious issues, the Reformatory Political Federation
asked her to become their top candidate
in Heerenveen for the 1998 municipal elections. She was elected into the Heerenveen municipal council.
In 2002
she was elected member of House of Representatives. She was elected on basis of preference votes
. The ChristianUnion only got four seats and she was second candidate, but because so many voters voted for her she entered parliament at the cost of prominent GPV leader Eimert van Middelkoop
. She was member of the parliamentary research committee into the Srebrenica massacre
. In the 2003 elections
she was re-elected, again with preference votes, now at the cost of Leen van Dijke
. She was fourth candidate and the ChristianUnion only got three seats. In parliament she had been occupied with foreign affairs, international development, migration, integration, spatial planning and the environment. She was secretary of the parliamentary party.
As Secretary of State for Transport, Public Works and Water Management, Huizinga survived a motion of no confidence
in April 2008 over the (supposedly failed) introduction of a MIFARE
-based nationwide public transport payment system.
Politics of the Netherlands
The politics of the Netherlands take place within the framework of a parliamentary representative democracy, a constitutional monarchy and a decentralised unitary state. The Netherlands is described as a consociational state...
. She was a Member of Parliament for the ChristianUnion
ChristianUnion
The ChristianUnion , abbreviated to CU, is a Dutch Christian democratic political party. A centrist party, the CU's policies combine social conservatism and soft euroscepticism with more centre-left positions on economic, immigration, and environmental issues.Founded in 2000 as a merger of the...
from 2002 to 2007. From 2007 till 2010 she was a Secretary of State
Secretary of State
Secretary of State or State Secretary is a commonly used title for a senior or mid-level post in governments around the world. The role varies between countries, and in some cases there are multiple Secretaries of State in the Government....
and in 2010 Minister
Minister (government)
A minister is a politician who holds significant public office in a national or regional government. Senior ministers are members of the cabinet....
of Environment and Spatial Planning
Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment (Netherlands)
The Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment was a Dutch ministry. It was responsible for policies on public housing, spatial planning, the environment and the housing of national government agencies...
.
Huizinga grew up in Amersfoort
Amersfoort
Amersfoort is a municipality and the second largest city of the province of Utrecht in central Netherlands. The city is growing quickly but has a well-preserved and protected medieval centre. Amersfoort is one of the largest railway junctions in the country, because of its location on two of the...
; both of her parents were teachers. After attending gymnasium
Gymnasium (school)
A gymnasium is a type of school providing secondary education in some parts of Europe, comparable to English grammar schools or sixth form colleges and U.S. college preparatory high schools. The word γυμνάσιον was used in Ancient Greece, meaning a locality for both physical and intellectual...
, she began to study law
Law
Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...
at the University of Utrecht. She became involved in the Christian student's association Ichtus, where she met her future husband. They married in 1982. After passing her candidate exams (roughly equivalent of a bachelor's degree
Bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for three or four years, but can range anywhere from two to six years depending on the region of the world...
), she stopped her studies and moved to Heerenveen
Heerenveen
Heerenveen is a town in the Heerenveen municipality of the province of Friesland , in the north of the Netherlands.- History :The town was established in 1551 by three lords as a location for the purpose of digging peat which was used for fuel, hence the name...
. She became a housewife and mother of three children.
She volunteered as translator at a Christian foundation, Open Doors
Open Doors
Open Doors is a non-denominational mission supporting persecuted Christians in more than 50 countries where Christianity is socially or legally discouraged or oppressed...
, which advocates the interest of persecuted Christians worldwide. She became involved in the cases of asylum seekers and refugees and worked as a volunteer for VluchtenlingenWerk Nederland. Because of her involvement with social and religious issues, the Reformatory Political Federation
Reformatory Political Federation
The Reformatory Political Federation was a minor Protestant Christian political party in the Netherlands.-History:The RPF was founded in 1975 by three groups of orthodox Christians...
asked her to become their top candidate
Lijsttrekker
Lijsttrekker is a Dutch term for the top candidate of a party on a party list. He or she is almost always the party's political leader. After an election, this person usually leads the party's faction in the States-General, or serves in a senior position in the Cabinet if his party is part of...
in Heerenveen for the 1998 municipal elections. She was elected into the Heerenveen municipal council.
In 2002
Dutch general election, 2002
The General Election to the House of Representatives of the States-General of the Netherlands was held in the Netherlands on May 15, 2002....
she was elected member of House of Representatives. She was elected on basis of preference votes
Open list
Open list describes any variant of party-list proportional representation where voters have at least some influence on the order in which a party's candidates are elected...
. The ChristianUnion only got four seats and she was second candidate, but because so many voters voted for her she entered parliament at the cost of prominent GPV leader Eimert van Middelkoop
Eimert van Middelkoop
Eimert van Middelkoop is a Dutch politician of the ChristianUnion party.From 2007 till 2010 he was Minister of Defence in the Cabinet Balkenende IV...
. She was member of the parliamentary research committee into the Srebrenica massacre
Srebrenica massacre
The Srebrenica massacre, also known as the Srebrenica genocide, refers to the July 1995 killing, during the Bosnian War, of more than 8,000 Bosniaks , mainly men and boys, in and around the town of Srebrenica in Bosnia and Herzegovina, by units of the Army of Republika Srpska under the command of...
. In the 2003 elections
Dutch general election, 2003
The General Election to the House of Representatives of the States-General of the Netherlands was held in the Netherlands on January 22, 2003.-Background:...
she was re-elected, again with preference votes, now at the cost of Leen van Dijke
Leen van Dijke
Leendert Cornelis van Dijke is a Dutch manager and former politician and carpenter.As a member of the Reformatory Political Federation and its successor the ChristianUnion he was a member of the Dutch House of Representatives from 1994 to 2003 as well as Parliamentary leader from...
. She was fourth candidate and the ChristianUnion only got three seats. In parliament she had been occupied with foreign affairs, international development, migration, integration, spatial planning and the environment. She was secretary of the parliamentary party.
As Secretary of State for Transport, Public Works and Water Management, Huizinga survived a motion of no confidence
Motion of no confidence
A motion of no confidence is a parliamentary motion whose passing would demonstrate to the head of state that the elected parliament no longer has confidence in the appointed government.-Overview:Typically, when a parliament passes a vote of no...
in April 2008 over the (supposedly failed) introduction of a MIFARE
MIFARE
MIFARE is the NXP Semiconductors-owned trademark of a series of chips widely used in contactless smart cards and proximity cards. According to the producers, billions of smart card chips and many millions of reader modules have been sold...
-based nationwide public transport payment system.