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Job Cohen, the popular former mayor of Amsterdam, became Friday the new leader of the Dutch Labour party.
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AMSTERDAM (EJP)---The popular former mayor of Amsterdam, Job Cohen, who became Friday the new leader of the Dutch Labour party, is the people's favourite choice for next Prime Minister, opinion polls showed.
The government led by Christian-Democrat Jan-Peter Balkenende collapsed in February when the Labour Party decided to quit the governing coalition over the Dutch military presence in Afghanistan.
Asked if they would prefer Cohen, current Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende or extreme-right and anti-Islam campaigner Geert Wilders for the premiership, 52% of people in a poll picked the Amsterdam mayor, leaving him well placed to become the country’s next Prime Minister after the June general elections.
The 62-year-old Marius Job Cohen was born in Haarlem, in northern Holland. His parents, Adolf Emile Cohen and Hetty Coster, were members of the local liberal Jewish community.
In 2005, the Time magazine awarded Cohen the title "European Hero" for his inclusive approach towards the Muslim community.
After the murder in November 2004 of film maker Theo van Gogh in Amsterdam by a Muslim extremist, he succeeded in defusing tension in the city.