‘Founder, sole member and patron of the Westerterp Vooruit Foundation.’ The former politician and later director of the Options Exchange Tjerk Westerterp, who died at the age of 92 (born December 2, 1930), had no problem being referred to as such. On the contrary. He was a big supporter of the advertising law, which says that it doesn’t matter how someone is talked about, as long as they talk about you. And yes, Westerterp and publicity; this was already a well-known dual entity at the Binnenhof in the 1970s.
‘Tjerk de Vlerk’, another title he carried. “In politics you have to say what you think in one sentence without any nuance,” he once said. And be present. “Visitor to about a hundred parties a year,” states the Parliament.com website in Westerterp’s biography under the heading ‘anecdotes’.
It’s probably not an exaggeration. The Rotterdam-born, Brabant KVP member whose party merged with the CDA in the late 1970s certainly falls into the category of colorful politicians. He therefore fitted in perfectly with the Den Uyl cabinet, the cabinet with its many personalities in which there was always something to do. “Oh well, I thought it was an exciting adventure that we all faced together,” he said about that episode.
In his younger years, Westerterp was a Blue Monday journalist at the regional newspaper The voice in Breda. The uniting Europe beckoned and he became an official at the European Parliament in Luxembourg. At the intercession of the undisputed leader of the KVP, Carl Romme, Westerterp was given an eligible place on the list of candidates of the House of Representatives in 1963. The man who converted to the more progressive part of the KVP as a member of the ‘Brabant Concerned’ in the mid-1960s, later became State Secretary for European Affairs in the Biesheuvel cabinet (1971-1973). Within the subsequent Den Uyl cabinet, he was promoted in 1973 to the position of Minister of Transport, Public Works and Water Management, a ‘visible’ department at that time.
Moped helmet and seat belt
With an average of 3,000 road deaths per year – in 2022 there were ‘only’ 578 fatalities – road safety had a high priority. Westerterp introduced, among other things, the mandatory use of a moped helmet and seat belt, reflective pedals on bicycles, a maximum speed of 100 kilometers on highways, lowered the maximum permitted alcohol content for road users and initiated mandatory car inspection. All these actions resulted in numerous photos in newspapers of Westerterp with a helmet, Westerterp in a seat belt, Westerterp in a safe bicycle rain suit. As the father of a child who had died in a traffic accident, he regarded road safety as an almost personal task. “My deceased child was my motivation,” he said years later.
Whether left or right, Westerterp was above all pragmatic with a keen sense of what was going on among people
He cared less about the endless meetings of the Den Uyl cabinet, which often lasted until the middle of the night, accompanied by many suspensions. For Westerterp, as manager of a distinctly specialized department, there was little to do at the conference table. Tired and tired, he would sometimes go to his local café in Ginneken, Brabant, leaving his papers behind, and then be back at the Catshuis around one o’clock in the morning in time for the final round of questions. Until one time he was late and the meeting turned out to be over.
Oosterscheldekering
He experienced crisis-like scenes as one of the key players in the completion of the Oosterscheldekering, the last major part of the Delta Plan. The tidal inlet should not be closed for reasons of environmental conservation, coalition partners PPR and D66 said after effective protest actions by oyster fishermen from Yerseke. Westerterp opted for safety for the Zeelanders and was in favor of complete closure. A cabinet crisis was looming. A typical Dutch compromise was found by turning it into a semi-open pillar dam with the help of immense gates (additional costs: one billion euros). Westerterp gave in. “All I know about that discussion is that Tjerk Westerterp defended with the greatest possible flair what he had previously called completely unacceptable,” party member Dries van Agt, deputy prime minister in the Den Uyl cabinet, would say years later. The other nickname of the ever-mobile Westerterp also dates from this time: ‘yes sister, no sister’.
Whether left or right, Westerterp was above all pragmatic with a keen sense of what was going on among people. That is why it was not surprising that he joined the rapidly popular Leefbaar Nederland party at the beginning of this century. In the 2002 House of Representatives elections, he came in second place as a regional candidate in North Brabant behind party leader Fred Teeven. After the murder of Pim Fortuyn he wrote together with Kay van der Linde Prime Minister Pim’s secret diary a novel about what would have happened if Fortuyn had not been murdered but had become Prime Minister of the Netherlands.
Options exchange
Before he started this excursion, Westerterp had developed in a different direction after his term of office. In 1978, as director, he became the face of the then newly established Options Exchange, the first in Europe. His job was to bring the new ‘toy’ for investors to the attention of the general public. Westerterp did it with verve. That the Option Exchange was scornfully dismissed as a gambling palace for yuppies? As long as trade increased, he would respond. The Option Exchange became a sponsor of Roda JC (with Johan Cruijff appointed by him as special advisor), horse races, concerts and chess tournaments. In the meantime, Westerterp himself was one of the regular guests in the Stan Huygens Journaal, the society section of The Telegraph. What was intended with the appointment of Tjerk Westerterp was more than successful: he managed to put the Options Exchange fully in the spotlight. He also devised the AEX index there in 1983, the most important Dutch stock market index.
In 2009, a portrait written by fellow countryman Rinie Maas was published in book form on the occasion of his upcoming 80th birthday. Lots of memories, lots of anecdotes, lots of pride. In it, Westerterp informed those around him that once the time came, he wanted to be buried under a mound: the Westerterp.