After the fall of the Second Balkenende cabinet on 30 June 2006, a cabinet formation took place in Netherlands. On 7 July, this resulted in the Third Balkenende cabinet. The minority cabinet was formed by Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) and People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD). It was a continuation of the Third Balkenende cabinet, but without ministers from Democrats 66 (D66).
The direct cause of the cabinet crisis was the actions of VVD Minister for Immigration and Integration Rita Verdonk with regard to the Dutch nationality of Member of House of Parliament Ayaan Hirsi Ali (VVD). In that debate on 29 June 2006, D66 ultimately supported a motion of no confidence against Verdonk, which nevertheless did not achieve a majority. However, D66 was unsatisfied with the cabinet for some time, where they were the smallest partner with six seats. For example, they were against the military mission in the Afghan province of Uruzgan. [2]
Despite D66's support for the motion of no confidence, VVD and CDA continued to support Verdonk. The Council of Ministers after the debate also unanimously took the position that this had no consequences for the cabinet, including the ministers of D66. According to D66 MP Bert Bakker, D66 minister Laurens Jan Brinkhorst wanted to continue governing. D66 minister Alexander Pechtold had just previously been elected as party leader, and wanted to use his ministership as a platform. [3]
After the Council of Ministers, Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende made a short statement in the House, in which he reiterated that it had no consequences. The D66 faction leader in the House Lousewies van der Laan then indicated that her faction had lost confidence in the cabinet and said that the Prime Minister should offer the cabinets resignation to the Queen. Because no motion of no confidence had been submitted and adopted, there was uncertainty as to whether the cabinet had fallen. In an emergency meeting of the Council of Ministers during the suspension of the debate, the ministers concluded that they had to offer their resignation and would be a demissionary cabinet. The D66 ministers were expected to leave the cabinet immediately, to their unpleasant surprise. On 30 June, Balkenende presented this conclusion to the Queen. [4]
Disappointed that the cabinet had fallen, CDA and VVD announced that they wanted to continue as a non-demissionary minority cabinet. An important reason for this was that they wanted to present a fully-fledged budget in 2007 with a tax reduction of more than one billion euros, after years of austerity rounds. They also wanted to discuss the submitted law Working on profit, with a tax reduction for companies of another one billion. [5]
Queen Beatrix received her advisors and the faction leaders after her dismissal. VVD and CDA argued for the formation of a 'rump cabinet with a missionary status'. The Pim Fortuyn List (LPF), Christian Union, Reformed Political Party (SGP) and the Nawijn Group supported this proposal, together with CDA and VVD a parliamentary majority. Labour Party (PvdA), D66, GroenLinks, the Lazrak Group and the Group Wilders rejected this, although PvdA and Socialist Party (SP) soon indicated that they did not oppose this either. Former CDA Prime Minister and Minister of State Ruud Lubbers was asked by the Queen on 1 July to serve as informateur to 'form a missionary cabinet of CDA and VVD'. The cabinet's task was to organise elections on 'a date to be determined in November 2006'. [6]
For confidence and supply, the focus was mainly on ChristenUnie/SGP (five seats), D66 (six seats) and the LPF (which went from seven to six seats during the formation). Despite the loss of confidence, Van der Laan indicated that she supported the tax plan and the budget, as they had previously been in favor of this in the cabinet. Furthermore, it was a lot about the 'list problem': which laws and measures could still be implemented with confidence and supply. [7]
Lubbers reported on 5 July. The election date of 22 November that year received broad support. There was also sufficient support for the budget and the tax plan, because D66 would provide support. He emphasized that there was no special role for the LPF. Lubbers did not discuss the list issue in detail, but advised the cabinet to exercise restraint. Finally, he recommended that Balkenende be made formateur. [8] Remarkably, after the report, Van der Laan announced that he would still support a possible motion of no confidence against the cabinet, because Verdonk was still in it. [9]
On 5 July, the Queen appointed Balkenende as formateur with the task of forming a cabinet from CDA and VVD. He spoke with party leaders Mark Rutte (VVD) and Maxime Verhagen (CDA) about the composition of the cabinet. The outgoing ministers would all join the new cabinet. The ministerial positions that were vacant due to the resignation of the D66 ministers were filled. State Secretary for Finance Joop Wijn became Minister of Economic Affairs. State Secretary for European Affairs Atzo Nicolaï became Minister for Administrative Innovation and Kingdom Relations. Bruno Bruins also joined the cabinet as State Secretary for Education, but he had already been appointed before the fall of the cabinet. They were sworn in on 7 July after the constitutive deliberation (Dutch : Constituerend beraad) on 6 July. [10]
The politics of the Netherlands take place within the framework of a parliamentary representative democracy. A constitutional monarchy, the country is organised as a decentralised unitary state. The Netherlands can be described as a consociational state. Dutch politics and governance are characterised by a common striving for broad consensus on important issues, within both of the political community and society as a whole.
Jan Pieter "Jan Peter" Balkenende Jr. is a Dutch politician of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) party and jurist who served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 22 July 2002 to 14 October 2010.
The first Balkenende cabinet was the executive branch of the Netherlands government from 22 July 2002 until 27 May 2003. The cabinet was formed by the Christian-democratic Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA), the nationalistic Pim Fortuyn List (LPF) and the conservative-liberal People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) after the election of 2002. The cabinet was a right-wing coalition and had a substantial majority in the House of Representatives with Christian Democratic Leader Jan Peter Balkenende serving as Prime Minister. Prominent economist Eduard Bomhoff served as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Health, Welfare and Sport, while prominent Liberal politician Johan Remkes served as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior and Kingdom Relations.
The Christian Democratic Appeal is a Christian-democratic and socially conservative political party in the Netherlands. It was originally formed in 1977 from a confederation of the Catholic People's Party, the Anti-Revolutionary Party and the Christian Historical Union; it has participated in all but three cabinets since it became a unitary party.
Democrats 66 is a social liberal political party in the Netherlands, which positions itself in the centre of the political spectrum. It is a member of the Liberal International (LI) and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE).
The second Balkenende cabinet was the executive branch of the Government of the Netherlands from 27 May 2003 until 7 July 2006. The cabinet was formed by the Christian-democratic Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA), the conservative-liberal People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), and the social-liberal Democrats 66 (D66) after the election of 2003. The cabinet was a centre-right coalition and had a slim majority in the House of Representatives with Christian Democratic Leader Jan Peter Balkenende serving as Prime Minister. Liberal Leader Gerrit Zalm, a former Minister of Finance, served as Deputy Prime Minister and returned as Minister of Finance, while former Progressive-Liberal Leader Thom de Graaf served as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister without Portfolio for the Interior.
General elections were held in the Netherlands on 22 November 2006, following the fall of the Second Balkenende cabinet. The election proved relatively successful for the governing Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) which remained the largest party with 41 seats, a loss of only three seats. The largest increase in seats was for the Socialist Party (SP), which went from nine to 25 seats. The main opposition party, the social democratic Labour Party (PvdA) lost nine of its 42 seats, while the right-liberal People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) and the progressive liberal Democrats 66 lost a considerable portion of their seats, six of 28 and three of six, respectively. New parties, such as the right-wing Party for Freedom (PVV) of former VVD MP Geert Wilders and the animal rights party Party for the Animals (PvdD) were also successful, with the PVV winning nine seats and the PvdD winning two, thereby becoming the first animal rights group to enter a European parliament.
Maria Cornelia Frederika "Rita" Verdonk is a Dutch politician and businesswoman formerly affiliated with the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) and later Proud of the Netherlands (TON), which she founded in 2007. Since 2022, she has been a municipal councillor of The Hague, elected on the list led by Richard de Mos.
The Second Lubbers cabinet was the executive branch of the Dutch Government from 14 July 1986 until 7 November 1989. The cabinet was a continuation of the previous First Lubbers cabinet and was formed by the Christian-democratic Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) and the conservative-liberal People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) after the election of 1986. The cabinet was a centre-right coalition and had a substantial majority in the House of Representatives with Christian-Democratic Leader Ruud Lubbers serving Prime Minister. Former Liberal Leader Rudolf de Korte the Minister of the Interior in the previous cabinet served as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economic Affairs.
The First Lubbers cabinet was the executive branch of the Dutch Government from 4 November 1982 until 14 July 1986. The cabinet was formed by the christian-democratic Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) and the conservative-liberal People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) after the election of 1982. The cabinet was a right-wing coalition and had a substantial majority in the House of Representatives with Christian Democratic Leader Ruud Lubbers serving as Prime Minister. Prominent Liberal politician Gijs van Aardenne, a former Minister of Economic Affairs, served as Deputy Prime Minister and returned Minister of Economic Affairs.
Mark Rutte is a Dutch politician who has served as prime minister of the Netherlands since 2010. He was also the leader of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) from 2006 through 2023. He is currently acting in a demissionary capacity, and will not return to politics following the installation of a new cabinet, after the 2023 Dutch general election. On 2 August 2022 he became the longest-serving Prime Minister in the history of the Netherlands.
The third Balkenende cabinet was the executive branch of the Government of the Netherlands from 7 July 2006 until 22 February 2007. The cabinet was formed by the Christian-democratic Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) and the conservative-liberal People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) after the fall of the second Balkenende cabinet. The caretaker rump cabinet was a centre-right coalition and had a minority in the House of Representatives with Christian Democratic Leader Jan Peter Balkenende serving as Prime Minister. Former Liberal Leader Gerrit Zalm continued as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance.
Joannes Gerardus "Joop" Wijn is a retired Dutch politician of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) party and businessman.
Following the 2006 Dutch general election, held on November 22, a process of cabinet formation started, involving negotiations about which coalition partners to form a common programme of policy and to divide the posts in cabinet. On February 22, 2007 it resulted in the formation of the Fourth Balkenende cabinet.
The 2003 Dutch cabinet formation concerned the formation of a new cabinet after the 2003 Dutch general election held on January 22, 2003. It involved negotiations about which coalition partners would form a common programme of policy and it involved the division of the cabinet posts. After severe disagreements in the formation of a CDA-PvdA cabinet, a CDA-VVD-D66 cabinet was formed on May 27, 2003, with Balkenende as prime minister.
The fourth Balkenende cabinet was the executive branch of the Government of the Netherlands from 22 February 2007 until 14 October 2010. The cabinet was formed by the Christian-democratic Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) and Christian Union (CU) and the social-democratic Labour Party (PvdA) after the election of 2006. The cabinet was a centrist grand coalition and had a slim majority in the House of Representatives with Christian Democratic Leader Jan Peter Balkenende serving as prime minister. Labour Leader Wouter Bos served as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance while Social Christian Leader André Rouvoet served as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister without Portfolio for Health, Welfare and Sport.
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