Second Balkenende cabinet
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.
Second Balkenende cabinet
Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende and Prime Minister of Italy Silvio Berlusconi in Moscow on 31 May 2003.
Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende and President of the United States George W. Bush in the Oval Office on 21 March 2004.
Prime Minister of Slovakia Mikuláš Dzurinda, Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende and German Christian Democratic Leader Angela Merkel at a European People's Party conference in Meise on 16 June 2004.
Politics of the Netherlands
The politics of the Netherlands take place within the framework of a parliamentary representative democracy. A constitutional monarchy, the country is organised as a decentralised unitary state. The Netherlands can be described as a consociational state. Dutch politics and governance are characterised by a common striving for broad consensus on important issues, within both of the political community and society as a whole.
Johan Rudolph Thorbecke (1849–1853; 1862–1866, 1871–1872)
Jan Heemskerk (1874–1877; 1883–1888)
Abraham Kuyper (1901–1905)
Pieter Cort van der Linden (1913–1918)