Mariko Peters

Mariko Peters
Member of the House of Representatives of the Netherlands
Incumbent
Assumed office March 11, 2011
Preceded by	Niels van den Berge
In office December 21, 2008 – November 23, 2010
Preceded by	Isabelle Diks
Succeeded by	Rik Grashoff
In office November 30, 2006 – August 31, 2008
Succeeded by	Isabelle Diks
Personal details
Born	Mariko Peters April 22, 1969 (1969-04-22) (age 42) Berkeley, California, United States
Nationality	Dutch
Political party	GreenLeft (GroenLinks - GL)
Relations	Married
Residence	The Hague, Netherlands
Alma mater	Leiden University, Columbia University (LLM)
Occupation	Politician, civil servant, lawyer
Website	(Dutch) GreenLeft website

Mariko Peters (born April 22, 1969 in Berkeley, California, United States) is a Dutch politician and former civil servant and lawyer. She has been an MP since November 30, 2006 (with two interruptions because of maternity leave). She focuses on matters of foreign affairs, judiciary, public administration, mass media and culture.

Biography

Peters, who has a Dutch father and Japanese mother, studied Law at the University of Leiden until 1995, resulting in Dutch LLM degree. During her studies she worked as an assistant at the research institute "Law and Policy." Between 1990 and 1992 she studied Japanese Literature and Law at the University of Kyoto and the International Christian University. In 1996 she obtained a LL.M. degree at the Columbia University School of Law.

Between 1996 and 2000 she worked as a lawyer at the office De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek. In 2000 she gave up a successful career in law to turn to human rights. In 2000 she took courses in European competition law at the Grotius Academie. She then took a job as a human rights-lawyer at the OSCE-mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina. In 2002 she began to work for the Dutch ministry of Foreign Affairs as policy advisor. In 2004 she became adjudant chef de poste at the Dutch embassy in Afghanistan. Since 2006 she worked as an advisor for the Afghan minister of Foreign Affairs, as representative of the Dutch government.

In September 2006, she unexpectedly became fourth candidate on the GreenLeft list for the 2006 elections. She had been member of the party since 2001. She was asked to put forth her candidacy by Farah Karimi, former Foreign Affairs spokesperson of the GreenLeft, when Karimi visited Afghanistan. In November 2006 she became a member of the House of Representatives.

In August 2011 magazine HP/De Tijd alleged that she was involved in a child abduction case in relation to the three children from her husband Robert Kluijver's previous marriage.^[1] The magazine also claimed a conflict of interest: when working at the embassy in Afghanistan in 2005, she advised a charity about a subsidy to Kluijver's organisation, when they allegedly were already having an intimate relationship.^[2] The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it would investigate the claims regarding conflict of interest.^[3] Peters denied both allegations.^[4] In an interview with NRC Handelsblad on August 9, she stated to be embarrassed after re-reading her email conversations with Kluijver of that time, saying their tone should have been more professional; her fellow GreenLeft party members qualified her behavior as "painful" and "inept", but said she acted on good faith.^[5] The investigation by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs concluded that Peters should have told the ambassador earlier about her relationship with Kluijver, although it remained unclear from which moment their relationship became intimate. The report also concluded that Peters' advice about the subsidy was professional and did not appear to be influenced by Kluijver.^[6] GreenLeft leader Jolande Sap said that Peters could keep doing the same job she had been doing as a member of parliament.^[7]

See also

• List of Dutch politicians

References

• (Dutch) Parlement.com biography

1. ^ Witteman, Lise (3 August 2011). "GroenLinks-Kamerlid Mariko Peters: Medeplichtig aan kinderontvoering" (in Dutch). HP/De Tijd. http://www.hpdetijd.nl/2011-08-03/groenlinks-kamerlid-mariko-peters-medeplichtig-aan-kinderontvoer. Retrieved 5 August 2011. 
2. ^ Koelé, Theo (3 August 2011). "'Kamerlid Mariko Peters betrokken bij kinderontvoering'" (in Dutch). De Volkskrant. http://www.volkskrant.nl/vk/nl/2824/Politiek/article/detail/2827841/2011/08/03/Kamerlid-Mariko-Peters-betrokken-bij-kinderontvoering.dhtml. Retrieved 3 August 2011. 
3. ^ "Onderzoek naar mogelijke belangenverstrengeling Mariko Peters" (in Dutch). Trouw. ANP. 4 August 2011. http://www.trouw.nl/tr/nl/4500/Politiek/article/detail/2837531/2011/08/04/Onderzoek-naar-mogelijke-belangenverstrengeling-Mariko-Peters.dhtml. Retrieved 5 August 2011. 
4. ^ "Kamerlid: Geen sprake van kinderontvoering" (in Dutch). De Volkskrant. ANP. 3 August 2011. http://www.volkskrant.nl/vk/nl/2824/Politiek/article/detail/2836460/2011/08/03/Kamerlid-Geen-sprake-van-kinderontvoering.dhtml. Retrieved 5 August 2011. 
5. ^ Meerhof, Ron (11 August 2011). "Partijgenoten: Mariko Peters handelde vanuit een goed hart". de Volkskrant. http://www.volkskrant.nl/vk/nl/2824/Politiek/article/detail/2845284/2011/08/11/Partijgenoten-Mariko-Peters-handelde-vanuit-een-goed-hart.dhtml?utm_source=VK_bronNULL&utm_medium=VK_orgNULL&utm_campaign=vknieuwsbrief. Retrieved 11 August 2011. 
6. ^ "Buitenlandse Zaken publiceert rapport over subsidie-advies door Mariko Peters". Ministerie van Buitenlandse Zaken. 12 August 2011. http://www.minbuza.nl/nl/Nieuws/2011/08/Buitenlandse_Zaken_publiceert_rapport_over_subsidie_advies_door_Mariko_Peters. Retrieved 29 August 2011. 
7. ^ "Sap: Mariko Peters behoudt portefeuille". NRC Handelsblad. 24 August 2011. http://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2011/08/24/sap-peters-blijft-buitenland-doen/. Retrieved 29 August 2011. 

External links

• (Dutch) House of Representatives biography

Persondata
Name	Peters, Mariko
Alternative names
Short description	Dutch politician, civil servant and lawyer
Date of birth	April 22, 1969
Place of birth	Berkeley, California, United States
Date of death
Place of death