Second Balkenende cabinet

Second Balkenende cabinet
65th Cabinet of the Netherlands
The installation of the second Balkenende cabinet on 27 May 2003
Date formed	27 May 2003 (2003-05-27)
Date dissolved	7 July 2006 (2006-07-07) (Demissionary from 30 June 2006 (2006-06-30))
People and organisations
Head of state	Queen Beatrix
Head of government	Jan Peter Balkenende
Deputy head of government	Gerrit Zalm Thom de Graaf (2003–2005) Laurens Jan Brinkhorst (2005–2006)
No. of ministers	16
Ministers removed	4
Total no. of members	18
Member party	Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) Democrats 66 (D66)
Status in legislature	Centre-right Majority government
History
Election	2003 election
Outgoing election	2006 election
Legislature terms	2003–2007
Incoming formation	2003 formation
Outgoing formation	2006–2007 formation
Predecessor	First Balkenende cabinet
Successor	Third Balkenende cabinet

Part of the Politics series
Politics of the Netherlands
Constitution Charter Wet Algemene Bepalingen Human rights
Monarchy King Willem-Alexander Council of Ministers Ministers Plenipotentiary Aruba Curaçao St. Maarten
Cabinet Prime Minister (list) Mark Rutte Deputy Prime Ministers Rob Jetten Karien van Gennip Carola Schouten Ministries
States General Senate President: Jan Anthonie Bruijn Current membership Historic composition House of Representatives Speaker: Martin Bosma Current membership Historic composition Parliamentary committees
Judiciary Supreme Court High Councils of State Council of State Court of Audit National Ombudsman
Elections Recent elections General: 2010 2012 2017 2021 2023 Next Provincial: 2011 2015 2019 2023 Municipal: 2010 2014 2018 2022 European: 1999 2004 2009 2014 2019 2024 Referendums Referendums: 2005 2016 2018 Political parties Politicians
Local government Provincial politics Water boards Municipal politics BES islands
Foreign relations Ministry of Foreign Affairs Minister: Hanke Bruins Slot Diplomatic missions of / in the Netherlands Nationality law Passport Visa requirements Visa policy of the Schengen Area Visa policy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in the Caribbean
Related topics Corruption in the Netherlands De Nederlandsche Bank Law of the Netherlands Modern history Republicanism in the Netherlands Social Economic Council
Politics portal
v t e

The second Balkenende cabinet was the executive branch of the Government of the Netherlands from 27 May 2003 until 7 July 2006. The cabinet was formed by the Christian-democratic Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA), the conservative-liberal People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), and the social-liberal Democrats 66 (D66) after the election of 2003. The cabinet was a centre-right coalition and had a slim majority in the House of Representatives with Christian Democratic Leader Jan Peter Balkenende serving as Prime Minister. Liberal Leader Gerrit Zalm, a former Minister of Finance, served as Deputy Prime Minister and returned as Minister of Finance, while former Progressive-Liberal Leader Thom de Graaf served as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister without Portfolio for the Interior.

The cabinet served during the unstable 2000s. Domestically, immigration was a major point of attention and it had to deal with the murder of controversial filmmaker and critic Theo van Gogh, while internationally, it dealt with the war on terror and the government support for the Iraq War. The cabinet suffered several major internal and external conflicts including multiple cabinet resignations, such as that of Deputy Prime Minister De Graaf following the failed introducing of a new referendum system. The cabinet fell prematurely on 30 June 2006 after the Democrats 66 supported a motion of no confidence against Immigration Minister Rita Verdonk and withdraw its support with the Democrats 66 cabinet members resigning on 3 July 2006 and the cabinet continuing in a demissionary capacity until it was replaced by the caretaker third Balkenende cabinet on 7 July 2006.^[1]