Second Van Agt cabinet

The Second Van Agt cabinet was the cabinet of the Netherlands from 11 September 1981 until 29 May 1982. The cabinet was formed by the political parties Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA), Labour Party (PvdA) and the Democrats 66 (D'66) after the election of 1981. The centre-left grand coalition cabinet was a majority government in the House of Representatives. It was the second of three cabinets of Dries van Agt, the Leader of the Christian Democratic Appeal as Prime Minister, with Joop den Uyl the Leader of the Labour Party and Jan Terlouw the Leader of the Democrats 66 serving as Deputy Prime Ministers.[1]

Second Van Agt cabinet
57th Cabinet of the Netherlands
The installation of the Second Van Agt cabinet on 11 September 1981
Date formed	11 September 1981 (1981-09-11)
Date dissolved	29 May 1982 (1982-05-29) (Demissionary from 12 May 1982 (1982-05-12))
People and organisations
Head of state	Queen Beatrix
Head of government	Dries van Agt
Deputy head of government	Joop den Uyl Jan Terlouw
No. of ministers	16
Member party	Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) Labour Party (PvdA) Democrats 66 (D'66)
Status in legislature	Grand coalition (Centre-left)
Opposition party	People's Party for Freedom and Democracy
Opposition leader	Hans Wiegel (1981–1982) Ed Nijpels (1982)
History
Election(s)	1981 election
Outgoing election	1982 election
Legislature term(s)	1981–1982
Incoming formation	1981 formation
Outgoing formation	1982 formation
Predecessor	First Van Agt cabinet
Successor	Third Van Agt cabinet

Formation

After the 1981 general election the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) of incumbent Prime Minister Dries van Agt was the winner of the election but lost 1 seat and had now a total of 48 seats. The Labour Party (PvdA) of Joop den Uyl lost 9 seats and had now 44 seats. The Democrats 66 (D'66) of Jan Terlouw was the biggest winner with 9 new seats and had now 17 seats. A long negotiation between the Christian Democratic Appeal, Labour Party and the Democrats 66 followed. The negotiations were troubled by the personal animosity between incumbent Prime Minister and Leader of the Christian Democratic Appeal Dries van Agt and former Prime Minister and Leader of the Labour Party Joop den Uyl. Van Agt who served as Deputy Prime Minister under Den Uyl his cabinet had a bad working relationship. In the end a coalition was formed.

Term

Many incidents made a healthy coalition impossible. Prime Minister Dries van Agt (CDA) had much trouble with Deputy Prime Minister Joop den Uyl (PvdA). Den Uyl tried to create employment as Minister of Social Affairs but plans to reform the health insurance was met with a huge resistance from the left-wing. The cabinet fell because the Christian Democrats wanted a cut in government spending, while the Labour Party opposed it.

Incoming Minister of Defence Hans van Mierlo and departing Minister of Defence Pieter de Geus at the Ministry of Defence on 11 September 1981.

The first meeting the Second Van Agt cabinet at the Ministry of General Affairs on 11 September 1981.

Prime Minister Dries van Agt and President of the African National Congress Oliver Tambo at the Catshuis on 19 October 1981.

Prime Minister Dries van Agt and Prime Minister of Portugal Francisco Pinto Balsemão at the Ministry of General Affairs on 25 February 1982.

Cabinet Members

Ministers			Title/Ministry		Term of office	Party
		Dries van Agt (born 1931)	Prime Minister	General Affairs	19 December 1977 – 4 November 1982 ^[Retained]	Christian Democratic Appeal
		Joop den Uyl (1919–1987)	Deputy Prime Minister / Minister	Social Affairs and Employment	11 September 1981 – 29 May 1982 ^[Res]	Labour Party
		Dr. Jan Terlouw (born 1931)	Deputy Prime Minister / Minister	Economic Affairs	11 September 1981 – 4 November 1982	Democrats 66
		Ed van Thijn (born 1934)	Minister	Interior	11 September 1981 – 29 May 1982 ^[Res]	Labour Party
		Max van der Stoel (1924–2011)	Minister	Foreign Affairs	11 September 1981 – 29 May 1982 ^[Res]	Labour Party
		Fons van der Stee (1928–1999)	Minister	Finance	5 March 1980 – 4 November 1982 ^[Retained]	Christian Democratic Appeal
		Dr. Job de Ruiter (1930–2015)	Minister	Justice	19 December 1977 – 4 November 1982 ^[Retained]	Christian Democratic Appeal
		Hans van Mierlo (1931–2010)	Minister	Defence	11 September 1981 – 4 November 1982	Democrats 66
		Til Gardeniers-Berendsen (1925–2019)	Minister	Health and Environment	11 September 1981 – 4 November 1982	Christian Democratic Appeal
		Dr. Jos van Kemenade (1937–2020)	Minister	Education and Sciences	11 September 1981 – 29 May 1982 ^[Res]	Labour Party
		Henk Zeevalking (1922–2005)	Minister	Transport and Water Management	11 September 1981 – 4 November 1982	Democrats 66
		Jan de Koning (1926–1994)	Minister	Agriculture and Fisheries	11 September 1981 – 4 November 1982	Christian Democratic Appeal
		Marcel van Dam (born 1938)	Minister	Housing and Spatial Planning	11 September 1981 – 29 May 1982 ^[Res]	Labour Party
		André van der Louw (1933–2005)	Minister	Culture, Recreation and Social Work	11 September 1981 – 29 May 1982 ^[Res]	Labour Party
Ministers without portfolio			Title/Portfolio/Ministry		Term of office	Party
		Joop den Uyl (1919–1987)	Minister	Netherlands Antilles Affairs (within Interior)	11 September 1981 – 29 May 1982 ^[Res]	Labour Party
		Kees van Dijk (1931–2008)	Minister	Development Cooperation (within Foreign Affairs)	11 September 1981 – 4 November 1982	Christian Democratic Appeal
State Secretaries			Title/Portfolio/Ministry		Term of office	Party
		Saskia Stuiveling (1945–2017)	State Secretary	• Local Government Affairs • Government Reform • Urban Planning • Public Housing (within Interior)	11 September 1981 – 29 May 1982 ^[Res]	Labour Party
		Gerard van Leijenhorst (1928–2001)		• Emergency Services • Disaster Management • Minority Affairs (within Interior)	11 September 1981 – 4 November 1982	Christian Democratic Appeal
		Hans van den Broek (born 1936)	State Secretary	• European Affairs • NATO Affairs • Benelux Affairs • International Aviation Policy (within Foreign Affairs)	11 September 1981 – 4 November 1982	Christian Democratic Appeal
		Hans Kombrink (born 1946)	State Secretary	• Fiscal Affairs • National Mint • Gambling Policy • State Lottery (within Finance)	11 September 1981 – 29 May 1982 ^[Res]	Labour Party
		Dr. Michiel Scheltema (1939)	State Secretary	• Integration • Immigration • Asylum Affairs • Privacy Policy • Administrative Law • Family Law • Youth Justice • International Law • Rehabilitation • Prevention (within Justice)	11 September 1981 – 4 November 1982	Democrats 66
		Piet van Zeil (1927–2012)	State Secretary	• Small Business Policy • Retail Policy • Competition Policy • Regional Development • Consumer Protection • Tourism Affairs (within Economic Affairs)	11 September 1981 – 22 June 1986	Christian Democratic Appeal
		Wim Dik (born 1939)		• International Trade • Export Promotion (within Economic Affairs)	11 September 1981 – 4 November 1982	Democrats 66
		Bram Stemerdink (born 1936)	State Secretary	• Equipment Policy • Military Justice (within Defence)	11 September 1981 – 29 May 1982 ^[Res]	Labour Party
		Jan van Houwelingen (1939–2013)		• Personnel Affairs • Veteran Affairs (within Defence)	14 September 1981 – 7 November 1989	Christian Democratic Appeal
		Ineke Lambers-Hacquebard (1946–2014)	State Secretary	• Environmental Policy (within Health and Environment)	11 September 1981 – 4 November 1982	Democrats 66
		Ien Dales (1931–1994)	State Secretary	• Social Security • Unemployment Affairs • Elderly Policy • Disability Affairs (within Social Affairs and Employment)	11 September 1981 – 29 May 1982 ^[Res]	Labour Party
		Hedy d'Ancona (born 1937)		• Occupational Safety • Youth Policy • Poverty Policy • Adult Education • Equality • Emancipation (within Social Affairs and Employment)	11 September 1981 – 29 May 1982 ^[Res]	Labour Party
		Ad Hermes (1929–2002)	State Secretary	• Primary Education • Teacher Policy (within Education and Sciences)	9 January 1978 – 4 November 1982 ^[Retained]	Christian Democratic Appeal
		Wim Deetman (born 1945)		• Secondary Education (within Education and Sciences)	11 September 1981 – 29 May 1982 ^[Appt]	Christian Democratic Appeal
		Jaap van der Doef (born 1934)	State Secretary	• Transport Infrastructure • Aviation Infrastructure • Water Infrastructure • Public Transport • Postal Service • Weather Forecasting Service (within Transport and Water Management)	11 September 1981 – 29 May 1982 ^[Res]	Labour Party
		Siepie de Jong (born 1940)	State Secretary	• Spatial Planning • Government Real Estate (within Housing and Spatial Planning)	11 September 1981 – 29 May 1982 ^[Res]	Labour Party
		Hans de Boer (born 1937)	State Secretary	• Social Services • Nature Policy • Media Affairs • Culture Policy • Arts Policy • Recreation Affairs • Sport (within Culture, Recreation and Social Work)	11 September 1981 – 29 May 1982 ^[Appt]	Christian Democratic Appeal
Source: (in Dutch) Kabinet-Van Agt II Rijksoverheid

^Retained Retained this position from the previous cabinet.

^Res Resigned.

^Appt Appointment: Wim Deetman appointed Minister of Education and Sciences; Hans de Boer appointed Minister of Culture, Recreation and Social Work.

References

1. "Kabinet in crisis" (in Dutch). Andere Tijden. 15 September 2012. Retrieved 24 February 2018.

External links

Official

• (in Dutch) Kabinet-Van Agt II Parlement & Politiek
• (in Dutch) Kabinet-Van Agt II Rijksoverheid