VVD Member of Parliament Mariëlle Paul (56) becomes caretaker Minister of Education. She was born in Geldrop and will be sworn in on Friday. She succeeds Dennis Wiersma who left in June. He did so after another complaint was received about his behavior.
Wiersma had been under fire for some time because he behaved unpleasantly and offensively towards his officials. He apologized for this, but later complained again about his behavior. Outgoing Prime Minister Mark Rutte revealed last week that the new education minister would probably be a woman.
Outgoing
Paul has been a Member of Parliament for the VVD since March 2021. Among other things, she spoke on behalf of her group on topics such as education and the handling of the benefits scandal.
The VVD politician will work as a minister in a caretaker cabinet. Prime Minister Rutte offered the resignation of his cabinet earlier this month because the parties could not agree on asylum measures.
Mariëlle Paul has to ‘mind the shop’ in the coming months. How much policy it can still make depends on the House of Representatives. It will determine in September which subjects are sensitive and may only be dealt with by a new cabinet. There will be elections in November and after that it will probably take months to form a new coalition.
Brabant roots
The parents of the outgoing minister come from Pakistan and came to live in Geldrop in 1965. Her father got a job at DAF. The family moved to Heeze a few years later. Their daughter attended grammar school at the Augustinianum in Eindhoven and then studied international law at Leiden University.
She has not lived in Brabant since she was eighteen, but the province is still in her heart. “I am from Brabant with Pakistani roots who has also been allowed to call myself an Amsterdammer for thirty years.” During her first speech in the House of Representatives, she also referred to her Brabant roots.