Rik Daems

Hendrik Jules Joseph (Rik) Daems (born August 18, 1959 in Aarschot ) is a Flemish politician , painter and wine merchant. He is currently a member of the Belgian Chamber of Deputies for the liberal Open VLD . He has been President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe since January 2020 .

Life

Rik Daems is the son of Jos Daems , who sat in the Senate for the Partij voor Vrijheid en Vooruitgang (PVV) and was State Secretary . After graduating from high school in 1977 with a focus on Latin and mathematics at the Royal Athenaeum Keerbergen , he studied industrial engineering at the Solvay commercial college in Brussels . He then did alternative military service at the Central American Institute of Public Administration in Costa Rica for two years .

In 1980 he became managing director of the Daems & Sons wine shop. He sells his abstract paintings in the style of Jackson Pollock through his art company Art & Consult International .

politics

From 1989 to 1994 Daems succeeded his father as mayor of the city of Aarschot.

In 1987 he was first elected to the Chamber of Deputies; in the same year he became vice chairman of the VLD .

Before the 1999 elections, Daems moved to Heverlee . In the Chamber of Deputies he had shown himself to be a tenacious budget expert. When Guy Verhofstadt became prime minister after twelve years of opposition, he asked Rik Daems to be budget minister. However, Daems preferred the post of Minister for Telecommunications, State Enterprises and Investments. In 2001 responsibility for medium-sized companies was added. During his tenure, the state airline Sabena went bankrupt ; Daems has been accused of not doing enough to prevent the company from collapsing.

His performance of office was also exposed to public criticism when selling UMTS licenses. While the licenses had poured a lot of money into the state coffers all over Europe, the proceeds in Belgium fell short of expectations.

After the 2003 election, Daems lost his ministerial office. He became chairman of the VLD parliamentary group in the Chamber of Deputies and a member of the city council of Leuven .

In mid-October 2007 it was reported that Daems was considering a change of party to Lijst Dedecker . According to his own statements, he wanted to decide on this "after thorough examination and consultation". After his party colleague Patricia Ceysens succeeded Fientje Moerman as Flemish Minister of Economic Affairs, his chances of holding a ministerial office in the federal government that was being formed had dwindled. The Open VLD rejected the transfer rumor a day later.

In January 2020 he was elected President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe to succeed Liliane Maury Pasquier .

Private life

Daems met his first wife at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel . He left his second wife, An Knapen, with whom he had a daughter, after twelve years of marriage.

On January 10, 2006 Daems let his office as VLD parliamentary group chairman rest. Daems had initially announced in an exclusive interview with the magazine Dag Allemaal that he wanted to divorce his second wife. The newspaper Le Soir later revealed that he had started a love affair with PS MP Sophie Pécriaux . Their daughter Sasha was born on June 25, 2006.

Daems later submitted a complaint to the Belgian Press Council . However, this was found to be unfounded as there was no evidence that Dag Allemaal had pressured Daems to get an interview about his private life.

References and comments

1. ↑ ^{a b} Rik Daems elected PACE President. In: assembly.coe.int. January 27, 2020, accessed January 28, 2020 . 
2. ↑ During this stay his father Jos Daems, who was visiting him, drowned in the sea off Costa Rica.
3. ↑ Rik Daems duwt Open VLD in paniek
4. ↑ Open VLD ontkent overstap daems
5. ↑ Rik Daems is the new President of the Council of Europe Assembly. In: grenzecho.net. January 27, 2020, accessed January 28, 2020 .