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Concept
First Balkenende cabinet
Summary
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 cabinet served during the early unstable 2000s. Domestically, it had to deal with the fallout of the assassination of Pim Fortuyn, and internationally, with the start of the war on terror. The cabinet suffered several major internal conflicts including multiple cabinet resignations. The internal conflicts between the cabinet members of the Pim Fortuyn List led to the fall of the cabinet just 87 days into its term on 16 October 2002 and it continued in a demissionary capacity until it was replaced following the election of 2003.
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.
Official source
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