Science Fair Project Encyclopedia
Second cabinet of Wim Kok
The second cabinet of the Netherlands to be headed by Prime Minister Wim Kok. After the Tweede Kamer elections of May 6, 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 (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 Kok 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 socialistic PvdA (red) and the liberal VVD (blue). This cabinet was notable for resigning twice; once in May 1999 when D66 stepped out of the coalition when its legislation was blocked - through negotiations the cabinet was "glued" back together again; then on 16 April 2002, when it resigned over the NIOD report into the fall of Srebrenica in 1995. It remained in place as a "caretaker" cabinet until July 22, 2002, when it was replaced by the first Balkenende cabinet.
See also: politics of the Netherlands
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