Prominent Dutch politician and former government minister Hans van Mierlo has died in an Amsterdam hospital aged 78.
In 1966, he became one of the founders of D66, the left-of-centre democrat party. It offered an alternative to the political establishment of the day, when parties were often defined along traditional religious lines. A year later, D66 won seven seats in parliament.
In 1981, Mr Van Mierlo served for a year as minister of defence. The high point of his career followed the 1994 election, in which D66 took 24 seats. The party joined Labour and the conservative VVD to form the ‘purple government’ ( ‘purple’ because of the mix of parties involved). It was the first Dutch coalition since 1918 not to include a religious party.
Mr van Mierlo was foreign minister from 1994 to 1998, when he was appointed minister of state, an honorary title for former politicians.
In 1999, he began a relationship with the Dutch writer Connie Palmen. They married in Amsterdam at the end of last year.
© Radio Netherlands Worldwide
Hans van Mierlo
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