The
Second cabinet of Wim Kok was the
governmentA Cabinet is a body of high ranking government officials, typically representing the executive branch. It can also sometimes be referred to as the Council of Ministers, an Executive Council, or an Executive Committee.- Overview :...
of the
NetherlandsThe politics of the Netherlands take place within the framework of a parliamentary representative democracy, a constitutional monarchy and a decentralised unitary state. The Netherlands is described as a consociational state...
headed by
Prime MinisterA prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. In many systems, the prime minister selects and may dismiss other members of the cabinet, and allocates posts to members within the government. In most systems, the prime...
Wim KokWillem "Wim" Kok ; born September 29, 1938) is a retired Dutch politician of the Labour Party . He served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands from August 22, 1994 until July 22, 2002....
during 1998 to 2002.
After the elections to the House of Representatives on 6 May 1998, the allocation of the 150 seats was:
| Partij van de Arbeid (PvdA) | 45
|
| Volkspartij voor Vrijheid en Democratie (VVD) | 38
|
| Christen Democratisch Appèl (CDA) | 29
|
| Democraten 66 (D66) | 14
|
| GroenLinks (GL) | 11
|
| Socialistische Partij Socialistische Partij may refer toNetherlands parties:* Socialist Party * Socialist Party Belgian parties:* Socialist Party - Different* Socialist Party...
(SP) | 5
|
| ChristenUnie (CU) | 5
|
| Staatkundig Gereformeerde Partij (SGP) | 3
|
ChristenUnie was formed from the combination of two parties, GPV and RPF, which had contested the elections separately.
The new cabinet was the successor of the
first cabinet of Wim KokThe First cabinet of Wim Kok , also called the "Purple Coalition" because of its social-democrat and liberal components, was a Dutch government formed by the political parties PVDA, VVD and D66. D66 had won its greatest political victory with the slogan that the Christian Democratic Appeal should...
and was formed from the same coalition of PvdA, VVD and D66. It was also known as the 'tweede paarse kabinet' ('second purple cabinet') called such because it contained both the social-democratic PvdA (red) and the liberal VVD (blue). The aim of the cabinet was to continue the policy of cabinet Kok I, which was concerned with economizing, tax reduction and making an end to unemployment. Wim Kok was the prime minister, Annemarie Jorritsma as the vice-prime minister for the VVD, and
Els BorstElse Borst-Eilers is a former Dutch Politician, she led D66 in the 1998 election campaign and served as Minister of Health, Welfare and Sport for eight years, and the last four as Deputy Prime Minister. Before entering politics she had a career in medicine.-Education and Academic Career:Borst...
for D66. The cabinet was considered boring, because both left-wing and right-wing political parties were a part of it. There was no strong opposition in the parliament.
This cabinet was notable for resigning twice. The first time was in May 1999, when D66 stepped out of the coalition when proposed legislation entered by this party was blocked; through negotiations the crisis was solved and the cabinet stayed together. The second and final time was on 16 April 2002, close to the natural end of term for the cabinet, when prime minister Kok wished to resign over the
NIODThe Nederlands Instituut voor Oorlogsdocumentatie is an organisation in the Netherlands which maintains archives and carries out historical studies into the Second World War...
report into the fall of
SrebrenicaSrebrenica is a town and municipality in the east of Bosnia and Herzegovina, in the Bosnian Serb entity of Republika Srpska. Srebrenica is a small mountain town, its main industry being salt mining and a nearby spa. During the Bosnian War, the town was the site of the July 1995 massacre,...
in 1995 and the other ministers had no choice but to follow him. The Second Kok cabinet remained in place as a caretaker cabinet until 22 July 2002, when it was replaced by the
first Balkenende cabinetThe first cabinet of Jan Peter Balkenende was in office in the Netherlands from 22 July 2002 until 16 October of the same year. The term of 87 days was the shortest since the fifth cabinet of Hendrikus Colijn .Following the 15 May 2002...
.
Ministers
| Prime minister, General Affairs |
Wim KokWillem "Wim" Kok ; born September 29, 1938) is a retired Dutch politician of the Labour Party . He served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands from August 22, 1994 until July 22, 2002....
|
PvdA |
|
| Vice Prime Minister, Economic Affairs |
Annemarie Jorritsma |
VVD |
|
| Vice Prime Minister, Public health, Wellbeing and Sports |
Els Borst Else Borst-Eilers is a former Dutch Politician, she led D66 in the 1998 election campaign and served as Minister of Health, Welfare and Sport for eight years, and the last four as Deputy Prime Minister. Before entering politics she had a career in medicine.-Education and Academic Career:Borst...
|
D66 |
|
| Foreign Affairs |
Jozias van Aartsen Jozias Johannes van Aartsen is a Dutch politician of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy . He is the Mayor of the Hague since March 27, 2008....
|
VVD |
|
| Justice |
Benk Korthals Albert Hendrik Korthals is a Dutch politician of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy. He is the Party Chair of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy since May 22, 2011...
|
VVD |
|
| Interior and Kingdom Affairs |
Bram Peper Abraham Peper is a Dutch sociologist and former politician. Peper was Mayor of Rotterdam and Minister of the Interior and Kingdom Relations and is member of the Dutch Labour Party ....
|
PvdA |
resigned March 13 2000 |
| Roger van Boxtel Roger Henri Ludovic Maria van Boxtel is a Dutch politician.-References:* at "Parlement & Politiek" site...
|
D66 |
13 - 24 March 2000 |
| Klaas de Vries |
PvdA |
March 24 2000 |
| Education, Culture and Sciences |
Loek Hermans Louis Marie Lucien Henri Alphonse Hermans is a Dutch politician and President of UEAPME.-References:...
|
VVD |
|
| Finance |
Gerrit Zalm Gerrit Zalm is a retired Dutch politician of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy . He served as Minister of Finance and Deputy Prime Minister from May 27, 2003 until February 22, 2007 in the Cabinets Balkenende II and III. He served earlier as Minister of Finance in the Cabinets Kok I and...
|
VVD |
|
| Defense |
Frank de Grave Franciscus Hendrikus Gerardus de Grave is a Dutch politician.-References:* at parlement.com...
|
VVD |
|
| Housing, Spatial Planning and Environment |
Jan PronkJohannes "Jan" Pieter Pronk is a Dutch politician and diplomat. Currently, he is a Professor of Theory and Practice of International Development at the International Institute of Social Studies in The Hague....
|
PvdA |
| Transport and Water |
Tineke Netelenbos Tineke Netelenbos née Tine Koomen is a Dutch politician.-References:...
|
PvdA |
|
| Agriculture, Nature Management and Fishery |
Haijo Apotheker Harm Haijo Apotheker is a Dutch politician.-References:...
|
D66 |
resigned June 7 1999 |
Laurens Jan BrinkhorstLaurens Jan Brinkhorst is a Dutch D66 politician.Brinkhorst was an undersecretary of state of foreign affairs and a minister of agriculture. Furthermore he was the leader of the D66-group in the Second Chamber of the Dutch parliament...
|
D66 |
from June 8 1999 |
| Social Affairs and Employment |
Klaas de Vries |
PvdA |
resigned March 24 2000 |
| Willem Vermeend Wilhelmus Adrianus Franciscus Gabriël Vermeend is a Dutch former politician.-References:...
|
PvdA |
March 24, 2000 |
| Development cooperation |
Eveline Herfkens Eva Leonie "Eveline" Herfkens is a former Dutch politician.She was a member of the Dutch parliament from 1981–1990 and Minister of Development Cooperation from 1998–2002.-Career:...
|
PvdA |
|
| Large cities and integration policy |
Roger van Boxtel Roger Henri Ludovic Maria van Boxtel is a Dutch politician.-References:* at "Parlement & Politiek" site...
|
D66 |
|
Staatssecretarissen
See also Staatssecretaris for a detailed description of the function.
- Foreign Affairs: Dick Benschop (PvdA)
- Justice
- Job Cohen
Marius Job Cohen is a Dutch social democratic politician and former legal scholar of Jewish background. Since 2010 he has been the leader of the Labour Party and since June 17, 2010 he has been a member of the House of Representatives, where he also is the Parliamentary group leader of the Labour...
(PvdA), resigned December 31, 2000
- Ella Kalsbeek
Neeltje Adriana Kalsbeek is a former Dutch politician. She was a member of House of Representatives of the Netherlands for the Labour Party . She was State Secretary of Justice under Wim Kok...
, 2 januari 2001
- Interior and Kingdom Affairs Gijs de Vries
Gijs M. de Vries is a Dutch Democrats 66 politician. He was deputy Interior Minister between 1998 and 2002, and was the European Union's anti-terrorism co-ordinator from 25 March 2004 to March 2007...
(VVD)
- Education, Culture and Sciences
- Karin Adelmund
Karin Yvonne Irene Jansen Adelmund was a member of the Dutch House of Representatives and former State Secretary of Education, Culture and Science .From February 1997 to August 1998 Adelmund was chairwoman of the Labour Party .- External...
(PvdA)
- Rick van der Ploeg (PvdA)
- Finance
- Willem Vermeend
Wilhelmus Adrianus Franciscus Gabriël Vermeend is a Dutch former politician.-References:...
(PvdA), resigned March 24 2000
- Wouter Bos
Wouter Jacob Bos is a Dutch management consultant and former politician of the Labour Party . He was Minister of Finance and Deputy Prime Minister in the Cabinet Balkenende IV from February 22, 2007 till February 23, 2010...
(PvdA), from March 24, 2000
- Defense: Henk van Hoof
Hendrikus Andreas Lambertus "Henk" van Hoof is a retired Dutch politician of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy . He was the State Secretary for Defence in the Cabinet Kok II serving from August 3, 1998 until July 22, 2002...
(VVD)
- Housing, Spatial Planning and Environment: Johan Remkes
Johannes Wijnandus "Johan" Remkes is a Dutch politician of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy . He is the Queen's Commissioner of North Holland since July 1, 2010....
(VVD)
- Transport and Water Monique de Vries (VVD)
- Economy Gerrit Ybema
Gerrit Ybema is a Dutch politician.-References:...
(D66)
- Agriculture, Nature Management and Fishery Geke Faber
Geke Faber is a Dutch politician.-References:...
(PvdA)
- Social Affairs and Employment
- Hans Hoogervorst
Hans Hoogervorst is a Dutch political and business figure. He is chairman of the International Accounting Standards Board.-Career:...
(VVD)
- Annelies Verstand
Annelies Elisabeth Verstand-Bogaert is a Dutch politician.-References:...
(D66)
- Public health, Wellbeing and Sports: Margo Vliegenthart
Anne Margot Vliegenthart is a Dutch former politician.-References:* at www.parlement.com...
(PvdA)