Paul van den Buinants ( May 22, 1919 , Forest , Belgium - January 9, 2001 , Brussels , Belgium ) - Belgian politician, Prime Minister of Belgium (1966-1968, 1978-1979).
| Paul Emile Francois Henry van den Buinants | |||||||
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| Paul Emile François Henri Vanden Boeynants | |||||||
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| Predecessor | Leo Tyndemans | ||||||
| Successor | Wilfried Martens | ||||||
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| Predecessor | Pierre Armel | ||||||
| Successor | Gaston Aeskens | ||||||
| Birth | May 22, 1919 Forest , Belgium | ||||||
| Death | January 9, 2001 ( 81) Brussels , Belgium | ||||||
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| The consignment | Social Christian Party Humanist Democratic Center | ||||||
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Biography
He began his career in the meat industry.
In 1949, Mr .. elected to the House of Representatives of the Parliament of Belgium from the Social-Christian Party (KSP), whose leader was in 1961-1966.
In the years 1957-1961. - Minister for Middle Class Affairs.
In 1966-1968 - Prime Minister of Belgium. The government has reduced funds allocated to education, health, social security, and increased taxes. In 1967, special laws were passed that granted the government extraordinary powers. In 1968, despite the adoption of the language laws of 1961 and 1962, Flemish students at the University of Leuven demanded that the faculties of the university, which were taught in French, be transferred to Wallonia. However, the government refused them, the Catholic ministers left the cabinet in protest, and the van den Buinants government resigned. As a result, the parliament was dissolved and a government crisis began, which ended only in June 1968 with the formation of a coalition government of Catholics and Socialists, headed by G. Euskens.
In the years 1972-1979. - Minister of Defense.
In 1978-1979 - Prime Minister of Belgium.
In 1979-1981 - Deputy Prime Minister.
In 1982, he was accused of corruption. In 1986, he was heavily fined and sentenced to three years probation due to tax evasion, financial fraud and the provision of incorrect income data to financial authorities.
In January 1989, he was abducted from his own underground garage. He was held hostage for thirty days and released for a ransom of three million marks. Patrick Hamers, a long-standing criminal suspect who had long been wanted by law enforcement authorities, was captured in Brussels, two of his possible accomplices who made themselves false passports were detained at a Colombian resort. An examination of the gunpowder trail on weapons made it possible to attract the Hamers gang also in connection with the attacks in Brabant. In February 1997, Patrick Hamers, who was to become a key figure in the Nivelle gang case and kidnapping Paul van den Buinants, was found hanged in a cell.
In 1995, he left public politics. For some time was the editor of the satirical weekly Pan .
Sources
- https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/paul-vanden-boeynants-728732.html
- Belgium // Great Soviet Encyclopedia : [in 30 vol.] / Ch. ed. A.M. Prokhorov . - 3rd ed. - M .: Soviet Encyclopedia, 1969-1978.