Frank Wassenberg

Wassenberg was born on 2 May 1966 in Heer, Maastricht. After completing his high school education in Maastricht in 1985 he went to study biology at Utrecht University and graduated in 1992.^[1] Since 1993 he has worked as a policy officer for various foundations for animal rights, since 2006 for the Koningin Sophia-Vereeniging tot Bescherming van Dieren [nl].^[1]

Wassenberg was elected to the States of Limburg for the Party for the Animals in the 2007 elections. He served one four-year term. In the 2011 elections the party did not manage to obtain any seats. In the 2015 elections Wassenberg was once more elected to the States, as the sole representative of the party.^[2]

In November 2015 Esther Ouwehand temporarily resigned her seat in the House of Representatives for health reasons. Wassenberg became her replacement with an expected term of four months.^[3] He has been reappointed multiple times since the passing of the first four months.^[4]

In September 2016, Wassenberg missed a vote on a bill to reform Holland’s organ-donor system. The bill provided that, if a person does not specify “yes” or “no” on the form to donate organs upon one’s death, s/he will be registered as making “no objection” to organ donation; one could still change the “no objection” status later. If one remains registered as “no objection” at the time of death, the organs become available for donation — unless one’s close family member objects. The bill passed Holland’s lower house of parliament by a vote of 75 to 74.^[5]

Wassenberg had planned to vote against the bill: Although he and his party considered it “terribly important” for the country’s health services to attract more organ donors, he felt the bill encroached on people’s freedom of choice regarding their own bodies. Wassenberg admitted an “incredibly stupid mistake” in missing the vote: “I had an appointment outside The Hague, and then something went wrong with the timetable. The group tried to reach me, but I had my phone turned off during the conversation.”^[6]

Esther Ouwehand returned to the House of Representatives on 18 October 2016, ending Wassenberg's temporary replacement.^[1][7]

After the 2017 general election Wassenberg returned to the House, taking office on 23 March 2017.^[1][8] He lost his bid for re-election in November 2023, and his term ended on 5 December. Wassenberg ran for the European Parliament as his party's second candidate in June 2024, but his party secured only one seat.^[9]