The De Jong

cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

was the

executive branch The Executive, also referred as the Executive branch or Executive power, is the term commonly used to describe that part of government which enforces the law, and has overall responsibility for the governance of a State (polity), state. In poli ...

of the

Dutch Government The politics of the Netherlands take place within the framework of a parliamentary representative democracy, a constitutional monarchy, and a decentralised unitary state.''Civil service systems in Western Europe'' edited by A. J. G. M. Bekke, ...

from 5 April 1967 until 6 July 1971. The cabinet was formed by the

christian-democratic Christian democracy (sometimes named Centrist democracy) is a political ideology that emerged in 19th-century Europe under the influence of Catholic social teaching and neo-Calvinism. It was conceived as a combination of modern democratic ...

Catholic People's Party The Catholic People's Party ( nl, Katholieke Volkspartij, KVP) was a Catholic Christian democratic political party in the Netherlands. The party was founded in 1945 as a continuation of the Roman Catholic State Party, which was a continuation of ...

(KVP),

Anti-Revolutionary Party The Anti-Revolutionary Party ( nl, Anti-Revolutionaire Partij, ARP) was a Protestant conservative and Christian democratic political party in the Netherlands. The party was founded in 1879 by Abraham Kuyper, a neo-Calvinist theologian and m ...

(ARP) and

Christian Historical Union The Christian Historical Union ( nl, Christelijk-Historische Unie, CHU) was a Protestant Christian democratic political party in the Netherlands. The CHU is one of the predecessors of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA), into which it merged in ...

(CHU) and the conservative-liberal

People's Party for Freedom and Democracy The People's Party for Freedom and Democracy ( nl, Volkspartij voor Vrijheid en Democratie ; VVD) is a conservative-liberal Andeweg, R. and G. Irwin ''Politics and Governance in the Netherlands'', Basingstoke (Palgrave) p.49 political party in ...

(VVD) after the election of 1967. The cabinet was a

centre-right Centre-right politics lean to the Right-wing politics, right of the Left–right politics, political spectrum, but are closer to the Centrism, centre. From the 1780s to the 1880s, there was a shift in the Western world of social class structure a ...

coalition and had a substantial

majority A majority, also called a simple majority or absolute majority to distinguish it from #Related terms, related terms, is more than half of the total.Dictionary definitions of ''majority'' aMerriam-Webster House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

with prominent

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

politician

Piet de Jong Petrus Jozef Sietse "Piet" de Jong (; 3 April 1915 – 27 July 2016) was a Dutch politician of the defunct Catholic People's Party (KVP) now the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) party and naval officer who served as Prime Minister of the Neth ...

the

Minister of Defence A defence minister or minister of defence is a Cabinet (government), cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from coun ...

in the previous

serving as

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

. Prominent

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

politician

Johan Witteveen Hendrikus Johannes "Johan" Witteveen (12 June 1921 – 23 April 2019) was a Dutch politician and economist who served as the fifth managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) from 1973 to 1978. Witteveen attended the Gymnasium E ...

a former Minister of Finances served as

Deputy Prime Minister A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to that of a vice president, ...

and returned as

Minister of Finance A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...

, prominent

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

politician Joop Bakker the Minister of Economic Affairs in the previous cabinet served as Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Transport and Water Management and was given the portfolio of Suriname and Netherlands Antilles Affairs. The cabinet served in the final years of the tumultuous

1960s File:1960s montage.png, Clockwise from top left: U.S. soldiers during the Vietnam War; the Beatles led the British Invasion of the U.S. music market; a half-a-million people participate in the 1969 Woodstock Festival; Neil Armstrong and Buzz ...

and the beginning of the

radical Radical may refer to: Politics and ideology Politics *Radical politics, the political intent of fundamental societal change *Radicalism (historical), the Radical Movement that began in late 18th century Britain and spread to continental Europe and ...

1970s File:1970s decade montage.jpg, Clockwise from top left: U.S. President Richard Nixon doing the V for Victory sign after his resignation from office following the Watergate scandal in 1974; The United States was still involved in the Vietnam War i ...

. Domestically it had to deal with the peak of the

counterculture A counterculture is a culture whose values and norms of behavior differ substantially from those of mainstream society, sometimes diametrically opposed to mainstream cultural mores.Eric Donald Hirsch. ''The Dictionary of Cultural Literacy''. Hou ...

but it was able to implement several major social reforms to

education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty. Va ...

social security Welfare, or commonly social welfare, is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specificall ...

, the introduction of

value-added tax A value-added tax (VAT), known in some countries as a goods and services tax (GST), is a type of tax that is assessed incrementally. It is levied on the price of a product or service at each stage of production, distribution, or sale to the end ...

es and it had to deal with several crises involving

Moluccan Moluccans are the Austronesian-speaking and Papuan-speaking ethnic groups indigenous to the Maluku Islands (also called the Moluccas), Indonesia. The region was historically known as the Spice Islands, and today consists of two Indonesian prov ...

nationalists Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: The ...

. Internationally it oversaw improvements in relations with the former

Dutch East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies ( nl, Nederlands(ch)-Indië; ), was a Dutch colony consisting of what is now Indonesia. It was formed from the nationalised trading posts of the Dutch East India Company, which ...

, growing

protests against the Vietnam War Protests against the Vietnam War took place in the 1960s and 1970s. The protests were part of a movement in opposition to United States involvement in the Vietnam War. The majority of the protests were in the United States, but some took place ar ...

and the fallout of the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

invasion of

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

following the

Prague Spring The Prague Spring ( cs, Pražské jaro, sk, Pražská jar) was a period of political liberalization and mass protest in the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic. It began on 5 January 1968, when reformist Alexander Dubček was elected First Sec ...

. The cabinet suffered no major internal conflicts and completed its entire term and was succeeded by the

First Biesheuvel cabinet The First Biesheuvel cabinet was the executive branch of the Dutch Government from 6 July 1971 until 9 August 1972. The cabinet was formed by the christian-democratic Catholic People's Party (KVP), Anti-Revolutionary Party (ARP) and Christian ...

following the election of 1971.

Formation

Following the fall of the

Cals cabinet The Cals cabinet was the executive branch of the Dutch Government from 14 April 1965 until 22 November 1966. The cabinet was formed by the christian-democratic Catholic People's Party (KVP) and Anti-Revolutionary Party (ARP) and the social-demo ...

on 14 October 1966 the Labour Party (PvdA) left the coalition, subsequently

Queen Juliana Juliana (; Juliana Louise Emma Marie Wilhelmina; 30 April 1909 – 20 March 2004) was Queen of the Netherlands from 1948 until her abdication in 1980. Juliana was the only child of Queen Wilhelmina and Prince Henry of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. S ...

appointed

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

Jelle Zijlstra Jelle Zijlstra (; 27 August 1918 – 23 December 2001) was a Dutch politician of the defunct Anti-Revolutionary Party (ARP) now the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) party and economist who served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 22 No ...

(ARP), a former

to form a

rump cabinet A rump cabinet is a cabinet from which one or more coalition partners have withdrawn and which has minority support in parliament. Netherlands In the Netherlands a rump cabinet is not the same as a demissionary cabinet where the entire cabinet res ...

with the

and the

. On 22 November 1966 the

Zijlstra cabinet The Zijlstra cabinet was the executive branch of the Dutch Government from 22 November 1966 until 5 April 1967. The cabinet was formed by the christian-democratic Catholic People's Party (KVP) and the Anti-Revolutionary Party (ARP) after the fal ...

was installed and served as a

caretaker government A caretaker government is a temporary ''ad hoc'' government that performs some governmental duties and functions in a country until a regular government is elected or formed. Depending on specific practice, it usually consists of either randomly se ...

until the election of 1967. After the election on 15 February 1967 the

was the winner of the election even after losing 8 seats and had now a total of 40 seats in the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

. Incumbent

was appointed as

Informateur A formateur (French for "someone who forms, who constitutes") is a politician who is appointed to lead the formation of a coalition government, after either a general election or the collapse of a previous government. The role of the formateur i ...

to start the cabinet formation process. After a first round of talks the

and the

agreed to form a coalition. On 6 March 1967,

appointed

Vice-President of the Council of State The vice-president of the Council of State ( nl, Vice-President van de Raad van State) is the ''de facto'' presiding officer of the Council of State. The monarch serves as the ''ex officio'' president of the Council of State but in reality seldo ...

Louis Beel Louis Joseph Maria Beel (12 April 1902 – 11 February 1977) was a Dutch politician of the defunct Roman Catholic State Party (RKSP) and later co-founder of the Catholic People's Party (KVP) now the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) party and ju ...

(KVP), a former

as the new

to start the next formation phase. On 9 March 1967 incumbent

and

Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries The Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food was a United Kingdom cabinet position, responsible for the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. The post was originally named President of the Board of Agriculture and was created in 1889. ...

Barend Biesheuvel Barend Willem Biesheuvel (; 5 April 1920 – 29 April 2001) was a Dutch politician of the defunct Anti-Revolutionary Party (ARP) now the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) party and jurist who served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 6 J ...

, the Leader of the Anti-Revolutionary Party was asked to form a new cabinet and was asked to become

Formateur A formateur (French for "someone who forms, who constitutes") is a politician who is appointed to lead the formation of a coalition government, after either a general election or the collapse of a previous government. The role of the formateur is ...

. The negotiations were troubled by objections from the

about prospect of

because he served in the previous

Centre-left Centre-left politics lean to the left on the left–right political spectrum but are closer to the centre than other left-wing politics. Those on the centre-left believe in working within the established systems to improve social justice. The c ...

. On 20 March 1967 after long negotiations between the parties,

failed to form a cabinet. In order to break the deadlock the

suggested that incumbent

(KVP) would be a good candidate to form a new cabinet.

a former

Naval officer An officer is a person who holds a position of authority as a member of an armed force or uniformed service. Broadly speaking, "officer" means a commissioned officer, a non-commissioned officer, or a warrant officer. However, absent context ...

who served as a

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

submarine commander had a good reputation as a

pragmatic Pragmatism is a philosophical movement. Pragmatism or pragmatic may also refer to: *Pragmaticism, Charles Sanders Peirce's post-1905 branch of philosophy *Pragmatics, a subfield of linguistics and semiotics *''Pragmatics'', an academic journal in ...

minister and was seen as a compromise candidate. On 21 March 1967

was tasked with forming a new cabinet and was appointed as

. On 4 April 1967 the cabinet formation was completed and the De Jong cabinet was installed the next day.

Term

It was the first

Cabinet of the Netherlands The cabinet of the Netherlands ( nl, Nederlands kabinet) is the main executive body of the Netherlands. The current cabinet of the Netherlands is the Fourth Rutte cabinet, which has been in power since 10 January 2022. It is headed by Prime Minis ...

after

that completed a full term without any internal conflicts. The cabinet was confronted with a demand for democratic reforms in the society and it decided to democratise colleges and universities after the famous maagdenhuisbezetting. Plans were made to modernise politics by establishing an electoral system with districts or a chosen prime minister, but these plans were not implemented. Meanwhile, a pay pause due to the decision of employers and employees to raise wages was partly revoked after anti-government demonstrations and strikes. More unrest took shape in demonstrations against the war in

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

. Internationally, relations with

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

improved, resulting in a visit by president

Suharto Suharto (; ; 8 June 1921 – 27 January 2008) was an Indonesian army officer and politician, who served as the second and the longest serving president of Indonesia. Widely regarded as a military dictator by international observers, Suharto ...

, which was, however, overshadowed by the occupation of the Indonesian embassy by

Moluccans Moluccans are the Austronesian-speaking and Papuan-speaking ethnic groups indigenous to the Maluku Islands (also called the Moluccas), Indonesia. The region was historically known as the Spice Islands, and today consists of two Indonesian provin ...

. The

invasion in

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

was seen as a reason to increase the defence budget.‘De oorlog was de oorzaak van geduvel in ’68’
NRC Handelsblad, 10 May 2008

Changes

On 7 January 1970, Minister of Economic Affairs Leo de Block (KVP) resigned after disagreeing with the cabinets decision to increase the wages in the metal industry, but another reason was that he had lost the credibility to remain in office after the

was highly critical in his handling of the rising

inflation In economics, inflation is an increase in the general price level of goods and services in an economy. When the general price level rises, each unit of currency buys fewer goods and services; consequently, inflation corresponds to a reductio ...

after the introduction of the

(BTW) on 1 January 1969.

(VVD) served as acting Minister of Economic Affairs until 14 January 1970 when Member of the House of Representatives

Roelof Nelissen Roelof Johannes Nelissen (4 April 1931 – 18 July 2019) was a Dutch politician of the defunct Catholic People's Party (KVP) now merged into the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) party and businessman. Biography Nelissen attended a Gymnasium i ...

(KVP) was appointed as his successor.

Cabinet Members

: : : : : :

Trivia

* Six cabinet members had previous experience as scholars and professors:

(Financial Economics),

Carel Polak Carel Hendrik Frederik Polak (2 September 1909 – 28 February 1981) was a Dutch politician of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) and jurist. Polak attended the Gymnasium Haganum in The Hague from May 1922 until June 1927 and ap ...

(Administrative and Agricultural Law), Gerard Veringa (Criminology and Criminal Law), Ferd Grapperhaus I (Fiscal Law), Klaas Wiersma (Civil Law) and

Roelof Kruisinga Roelof Johannes Hendrik Kruisinga (27 August 1922 – 7 December 2012) was a Dutch politician of the defunct Christian Historical Union (CHU) party and later the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) party and physician. Kruisinga attended a Gymnas ...

(Otorhinolaryngology). * Three cabinet members were

flag officer A flag officer is a commissioned officer in a nation's armed forces senior enough to be entitled to fly a flag to mark the position from which the officer exercises command. The term is used differently in different countries: *In many countr ...

s: Willem den Toom (Lieutenant General in the Air Force),

Joop Haex Joseph Constant Eugène "Joop" Haex (24 November 1911 – 14 April 2002) was a Dutch politician of the defunct Christian Historical Union (CHU) now merged into the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA), an army officer and lieutenant general of the Ro ...

(Major General in the Army) and Adri van Es (Vice Admiral in the Navy). * Eight cabinet members had served during

either in the military or the Resistance:

(Navy), Willem den Toom (Air Force),

Wim Schut Wim is a masculine given name or a shortened form of Willem and other names and may refer to: * Wim Anderiesen (1903–1944), Dutch footballer * Wim Aantjes (1923–2015), Dutch politician * Wim Arras (born 1964), Belgian cyclist * Wim Blockman ...

(Resistance),

Marga Klompé Margaretha Albertina Maria "Marga" Klompé (16 August 1912 – 28 October 1986) was a Dutch politician of the defunct Catholic People's Party (KVP) now merged into the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) party and chemist. She was granted the honor ...

(Resistance),

Hans de Koster Henri Johan "Hans" de Koster (5 November 1914 – 24 November 1992) was a Dutch politician and diplomat of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) and businessman. De Koster attended a Gymnasium in Leiden from May 1927 until June 19 ...

(Resistance), Joop Haex (Army), Adri van Es (Navy) and Bob Duynstee (Army). * Four cabinet members (later) served as Party Leaders and ''

Lijsttrekker In politics, a lead candidate (; , ) is the leader of a political party in an election to a legislative body. In parliamentary systems, it is often the party's nominee for the position of head of government. In open list electoral systems, it is ...

s'': Henk Beernink (1963–1967),

Bé Udink Berend Jan "Bé" Udink (12 February 1926 – 24 May 2016) was a Dutch politician and diplomat of the defunct Christian Historical Union (CHU) party now merged into the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) party and businessman. Udink applied at t ...

(1970–1971) and Roelof Kruisinga (1971–1977) of the Christian Historical Union and Gerard Veringa (1971) of the Catholic People's Party. * The age difference between the first Minister of Economic Affairs Leo de Block (born 1904) and his successor

(born 1931) was .

References

External links

;Official *
Kabinet-De Jong
Parlement & Politiek *
Kabinet-De Jong
Rijksoverheid {{DEFAULTSORT:Jong cabinet, De Cabinets of the Netherlands 1967 establishments in the Netherlands 1971 disestablishments in the Netherlands Cabinets established in 1967 Cabinets disestablished in 1971