Jan-Peter Balkenende is in the AD with a major interview by Elodie Verweij. Why hasn’t the former prime minister given any interviews for fifteen years? “You should never get in the way of your successors.”
For fifteen years, former Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende (69) refused every interview, but now he is breaking the silence in a long conversation with Elodie Verweij, political journalist from AD. It’s not newsworthy; the highlights that during his time as prime minister he called his mother every day and that he already knew in his youth that his life would be special.
No interviews
Jan Peter, currently Minister of State, professor emeritus and advisor at accounting firm EY, opted for shelter for a long time. Why hasn’t he given any interviews for fifteen years?
He says: “You should never get in the way of your successors. In my personal life, I still notice every day that I was Prime Minister. I regularly experience people on the street thanking me for my efforts for the country. Recently someone even asked: when are you coming back?”
Big switch
What is it like to no longer be Prime Minister from one day to the next? “That’s where you grow, although I thought the transition was quite a big one. I was told: you’ve worked so hard all these years, why don’t you take a six-month sabbatical? But that doesn’t suit me.”
Ultimately, Jan Peter went on holiday for a few days with his wife Bianca and their daughter Amelie. “And then went back to work.”
Nothing surprising
Journalist Ton F. van Dijk thinks it has become a very boring interview. “What’s the news?” he asks on X.
Elodie defends herself: “It gives a nice insight into his life!”
Ton sneers: “Not even. He doesn’t say anything surprising at all, it’s all at the level of someone who doesn’t really want to say anything about anything. Missed opportunity!”
AD interview
The AD interview: