First Balkenende cabinet

The First Balkenende cabinet was the cabinet of the Netherlands from 22 July 2002 until 27 May 2003. The cabinet was formed by the political parties Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA), Pim Fortuyn List (LPF) and the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) after the election of 2002. The right-wing cabinet was a majority government in the House of Representatives. It was the first of four cabinets of Jan Peter Balkenende, the Leader of the Christian Democratic Appeal as Prime Minister, with Eduard Bomhoff and Roelf de Boer of the Pim Fortuyn List and Johan Remkes of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy serving as Deputy Prime Ministers.[1]

First Balkenende cabinet
64th Cabinet of the Netherlands
The installation of the First Balkenende cabinet on 22 July 2002
Date formed	22 July 2002 (2002-07-22)
Date dissolved	27 May 2003 (2003-05-27) (Demissionary from 16 October 2002 (2002-10-16))
People and organisations
Monarch	Queen Beatrix
Prime Minister	Jan Peter Balkenende
Deputy Prime Minister	Eduard Bomhoff (2002) Johan Remkes Roelf de Boer (2002–2003)
No. of ministers	14
Total no. of members	14
Member party	Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) Pim Fortuyn List (LPF) People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD)
Status in legislature	Right-wing Majority government
Opposition party	Labour Party
Opposition leader	Jeltje van Nieuwenhoven (2002) Wouter Bos (2002–2003)
History
Election(s)	2002 election
Outgoing election	2003 election
Legislature term(s)	2002–2003
Incoming formation	2002 formation
Outgoing formation	2003 formation
Predecessor	Second Kok cabinet
Successor	Second Balkenende cabinet

Formation

On 17 May 2002 Queen Beatrix appointed Member of the Council of State Piet Hein Donner (CDA) as "informer", to investigate the possibilities for a new government. A coalition between CDA, LPF and VVD was established relatively quickly, despite some initial resistance by the VVD. By 4 July a detailed coalition agreement had been drawn up and the Queen appointed Jan Peter Balkenende, the lijsttrekker for the CDA, to form a new cabinet. The cabinet was named on 16 July and was sworn in on 22 July. The first Balkenende cabinet comprised 14 ministers and 14 State Secretaries, with each post allocated to one of the coalition parties. Each of the ministers headed a department, with the exception of one "minister without a portfolio" to deal with "foreigners policy and integration", accommodated by the Ministry of Justice.

Term

Incidents and scandals

The first Balkenende cabinet was very unstable from the beginning. Elections had been held in the very recent aftermath of the assassination of Pim Fortuyn, the leader of the newly established Pim Fortuyn List. Emotions in the Netherlands had run very high. The LPF was catapulted into enormous wins, but was unprepared for cabinet participation.

Only three of the 27 cabinet members had previous experience in government, leading to speculation that it wouldn't last long. As it turned out, personality conflicts and the general inexperience of LPF cabinet members led to the rapid implosion of the cabinet after a little more than two months.

Resignation of State Secretary Bijlhout

The first scandal in the new government came only nine hours after it took office. Philomena Bijlhout, the State Secretary for Social Affairs and Employment and a member of the LPF, resigned after RTL 4 reported that she had been a member of a militia of Surinamese military dictator Dési Bouterse in 1982 and 1983. This was during the period when the militia had committed the political murders known as the "December Murders". Bijlhout, who was born in Suriname, had never denied being part of the militia, but claimed she'd left prior to the December Murders.[2]

Power struggles within the LPF and resignation of the cabinet

In the months following the election, the LPF was beset by power struggles between various factions. A big incident was when Immigration and Integration Minister Hilbrand Nawijn declared to be in favour of the death penalty. The cabinet was officially opposed to the death penalty. Nawijn responded that he made his remark as leader of the LPF. The party in its turn declared that it was opposed to the death penalty. Nawijn was highly criticised when he declared that it was a personal remark, because it was normal that a minister in a coalition cabinet could make remarks as a party member outside his ministerial responsibility.

In September and October Herman Heinsbroek speculated in public about leading a new party and resigning from the government. This led to tension between him and his supporter Steven van Eyck and Bomhoff. VVD-leader Zalm tried to convince the LPF ministers to replace both Bomhoff and Heinsbroek but his real aim was to use these resignations to call for new elections and to repair the huge losses of his VVD party in the election after the murder of Fortuyn. Disregarding Bomhoff's warnings, the other LPF ministers took the bait and told Bomhoff and Heinsbroek to resign, which they did on October 16. Immediately, Zalm broke his commitment to the remaining LPF ministers to accept replacements for Bomhoff and Heinsbroek and called for fresh elections. Meetings with the Queen did not take place until the week after the resignation, since she had travelled to Italy immediately after the funeral. On 21 October she accepted the resignation and new elections were called for 22 January 2003. The cabinet remained in place as a demissionary cabinet, without Bomhoff and Heinsbroek, until the elections and formation of the second Balkenende cabinet.

On 12 December 2002 Benk Korthals resigned as caretaker Minister of Defence after a commission of inquiry into building industry fraud accused him of giving false information to the Lower House during the previous cabinet. After resigning he said he still denied the allegations.

After the ensuing new elections, the LPF lost two-thirds of its seats in the House of Representatives. The party was never a significant force in Dutch politics again, and dissolved in 2008.

The term of 87 days (counting the first and last days in full and excluding its "caretaker" function that continued for months afterwards) was the shortest since the fifth cabinet of Hendrikus Colijn (25 July 1939 – 10 August 1939).

Actions

• Revoking a planned ban on mink farming initiated by the previous cabinet.[3]
• Approval of an expansion of the European Union.
• Support for the United States in its plan to invade Iraq.
• Cuts to Ad Melkert's subsidised jobs scheme, the Melkertbanen.
• Removal of price controls on certain popular medical interventions (knee and hip operations, cataract operations) in an effort to reduce waiting lists.
• Reorganisation of defence, including budget cuts and the termination of 4800 jobs.[4]
• Reduction of spending on public transport by 39 million euros.[5]
• Cuts to the budgets of most government departments, countered by increased spending in health and some other areas.

Secretary of State for Finance and Economic Affairs of Gambia Famara Jatta and State Secretary for Foreign Affairs for Development Cooperation Agnes van Ardenne at the International Monetary Fund in Washington, D.C. on 28 September 2002.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Jaap de Hoop Scheffer and United States Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz at The Pentagon on 1 May 2003.

Ambassador of the Netherlands to the United States Boudewijn van Eenennaam, Minister of Foreign Affairs Jaap de Hoop Scheffer and United States Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz at The Pentagon on 1 May 2003.

Composition

Ministers			Title/Ministry			Term of office	Party
		Dr. Jan Peter Balkenende (born 1956)	Prime Minister	General Affairs		22 July 2002 – 14 October 2010 ^[Continued]	Christian Democratic Appeal
		Johan Remkes (born 1951)	Deputy Prime Minister	Interior and Kingdom Relations		22 July 2002 – 27 May 2003	People's Party for Freedom and Democracy
			Minister			22 July 2002 – 22 February 2007 ^[Continued]
		Dr. Eduard Bomhoff (born 1944)	Minister	Health, Welfare and Sport		22 July 2002 – 16 October 2002 ^[Res]	Pim Fortuyn List
			Deputy Prime Minister
		Roelf de Boer (born 1949)		Transport and Water Management		18 October 2002 – 27 May 2003	Pim Fortuyn List
			Minister			22 July 2002 – 27 May 2003
		Jaap de Hoop Scheffer (born 1948)	Minister	Foreign Affairs	"	22 July 2002 – 3 December 2003 ^[Continued]	Christian Democratic Appeal
		Hans Hoogervorst (born 1956)	Minister	Finance		22 July 2002 – 27 May 2003	People's Party for Freedom and Democracy
			Minister	Economic Affairs		16 October 2002 – 27 May 2003
		Piet Hein Donner (born 1948)	Minister	Justice		22 July 2002 – 21 September 2006 ^[Continued]	Christian Democratic Appeal
		Herman Heinsbroek (born 1951)	Minister	Economic Affairs		22 July 2002 – 16 October 2002 ^[Res]	Pim Fortuyn List
		Benk Korthals (born 1944)	Minister	Defence		22 July 2002 – 12 December 2002 ^[Res]	People's Party for Freedom and Democracy
		Henk Kamp (born 1952)				12 December 2002 – 22 February 2007 ^[Continued]	People's Party for Freedom and Democracy
			Minister	Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment		22 July 2002 – 27 May 2003
		Aart Jan de Geus (born 1955)	Minister	Health, Welfare and Sport		16 October 2002 – 27 May 2003	Christian Democratic Appeal
			Minister	Social Affairs and Employment		22 July 2002 – 22 February 2007 ^[Continued]
		Maria van der Hoeven (born 1949)	Minister	Education, Culture and Science		22 July 2002 – 22 February 2007 ^[Continued]	Christian Democratic Appeal
		Dr. Cees Veerman (born 1949)	Minister	Agriculture, Nature and Fisheries		22 July 2002 – 1 July 2003 ^[Continued]	Christian Democratic Appeal
Minister without portfolio			Title/Ministry/Portfolio			Term of office	Party
		Hilbrand Nawijn (born 1948)	Minister	Justice	• Integration • Immigration • Asylum Affairs • Minority Affairs	22 July 2002 – 27 May 2003	Pim Fortuyn List
State Secretaries			Title/Ministry/Portfolio			Term of office	Party
		Rob Hessing (born 1942)	State Secretary	Interior and Kingdom Relations	• Public Security • Emergency Services • Disaster Management	22 July 2002 – 27 May 2003	Pim Fortuyn List
		Agnes van Ardenne (born 1950)	State Secretary ^[Title]	Foreign Affairs	• Development Cooperation	22 July 2002 – 27 May 2003	Christian Democratic Appeal
		Atzo Nicolaï (born 1960)			• European Affairs • NATO Affairs • Benelux Affairs	22 July 2002 – 7 July 2006 ^[Continued]	People's Party for Freedom and Democracy
		Steven van Eijck (born 1959)	State Secretary	Finance	• Fiscal Affairs • Tax and Customs Administration • Local Government Finances • National Mint • State Lottery	22 July 2002 – 27 May 2003	Pim Fortuyn List
		Joop Wijn (born 1969)	State Secretary	Economic Affairs	• International Trade • Export Promotion • Regional Development • Consumer Protection • Energy Policy • Digital Infrastructure • Postal Service • Tourism Affairs	22 July 2002 – 27 May 2003	Christian Democratic Appeal
		Cees van der Knaap (born 1951)	State Secretary	Defence	• Personnel Affairs • Equipment Policy	22 July 2002 – 18 December 2007 ^[Continued]	Christian Democratic Appeal
		Clémence Ross- van Dorp (born 1957)	State Secretary	Health, Welfare and Sport	• Youth Policy • Elderly Policy • Disability Affairs • Veteran Affairs • Biotechnology Policy • Medical Ethics Policy • Sport	22 July 2002 – 22 February 2007 ^[Continued]	Christian Democratic Appeal
		Mark Rutte (born 1967)	State Secretary	Social Affairs and Employment	• Social Security • Unemployment Affairs • Occupational Safety • Social Services • Poverty Policy	22 July 2002 – 17 June 2004 ^[Continued]	People's Party for Freedom and Democracy
		Philomena Bijlhout (born 1957)			• Family Policy • Equality • Emancipation	22 July 2002 – 24 July 2002 ^[Res]	Pim Fortuyn List
		Khee Liang Phoa (born 1955)				9 September 2002 – 27 May 2003	Pim Fortuyn List
		Annette Nijs (born 1961)	State Secretary	Education, Culture and Science	• Higher Education • Adult Education • Science Policy	22 July 2002 – 9 June 2004 ^[Continued]	People's Party for Freedom and Democracy
		Cees van Leeuwen (born 1951)			• Media Affairs • Culture Policy • Arts Policy	22 July 2002 – 27 May 2003	Pim Fortuyn List
		Melanie Schultz van Haegen (born 1970)	State Secretary	Transport and Water Management	• Transport Infrastructure • Aviation Policy • Water Infrastructure • Public Transportation • Weather Forecasting Service	22 July 2002 – 22 February 2007 ^[Continued]	People's Party for Freedom and Democracy
		Jan Odink (1944–2018)	State Secretary	Agriculture, Nature and Fisheries	• Fisheries • Animal Welfare	22 July 2002 – 27 May 2003	Pim Fortuyn List
		Pieter van Geel (born 1951)	State Secretary	Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment	• Environmental Policy • Nature Policy • Environmental Remediation • Sustainability Policy	22 July 2002 – 22 February 2007 ^[Continued]	Christian Democratic Appeal
Source: (in Dutch) Kabinet Balkenende I Rijksoverheid

^Resigned

^{Continued in the next cabinet}

^{Was designated with the title of a full government Minister for International relations}

References

1. "LPF" (in Dutch). Andere Tijden. 16 November 2006. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
2. "Dutch minister resigns within hours", BBC News (Tuesday, 23 July 2002)
3. Telegraaf 2002-10-10
4. www.regering.nl 2002-12-02
5. www.regering.nl 2002-11-19

External links

Official

• (in Dutch) Kabinet-Balkenende I Parlement & Politiek
• (in Dutch) Kabinet Balkenende I Rijksoverheid