Den Uyl cabinet


The Den Uyl cabinet was the cabinet of the Netherlands from 11 May 1973 until 19 December 1977. The cabinet was formed by the political parties Labour Party, Catholic People's Party, Anti-Revolutionary Party, Political Party of Radicals and the Democrats 66 after the election of 1972. The left-wing cabinet was a majority government in the House of Representatives. Joop den Uyl, the Leader of the Labour Party was Prime Minister, with Dries van Agt of the Catholic People's Party and Gaius de Gaay Fortman of the Anti-Revolutionary Party serving as Deputy Prime Ministers.

Formation

After the 1972 election the Labour Party of Joop den Uyl was the winner of the election which won four new seats and had now a total of 43 seats. Prior to the election the Labour Party had formed a Political alliance with the progressive Christian Political Party of Radicals and the social-liberal Democrats 66 but failed to achieve a majority in the House of Representatives. After lengthy negotiations the Christian-democratic Catholic People's Party and Anti-Revolutionary Party agreed to start talks about joining the coalition. During the formation negotiations between the parties were difficult because of disputes between uncompromising left-wing radicals and the moderate factions of the left-wing parties and the left-wing Christians. In the end both the Catholic People's Party and Anti-Revolutionary Party joined the cabinet.

Term

The cabinet Den Uyl was confronted with many problems. An early problem was the 1973 oil boycott following the Dutch support of Israel in the Yom Kippur War. Prime Minister Joop den Uyl said in a speech on national television that "things would never return to the way they were" and implemented fuel rationing and a ban on Sunday driving.
Domestically the cabinet had several major conflicts. The terrorist attacks by Moluccans seeking independence from Indonesia where a major source of problems. The Lockheed affair and the closing of the abortion clinic Bloemenhove. Many plans could not be implemented because of these problems.
The cabinet fell because of a disagreement over land development plans. A deeper cause was the left-wing distrust of the Christian ministers, especially in the case of war criminal Menten, where Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Justice Dries van Agt was ridiculed by some party members of Prime Minister Joop den Uyl.

Changes

On 1 November 1973 Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries Tiemen Brouwer resigned because of health reasons shortly after he took office he was struck with a brain haemorrhage. That same day State Secretary for Finance Fons van der Stee was installed as Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries. On 21 December 1973 Martin van Rooijen, who until then had been working as the head of the fiscal tax department for Royal Dutch Shell was appointed as State Secretary for Finance.
On 1 March 1974 State Secretary for Defence Joep Mommersteeg resigned because of health problems. On 11 March 1974 brigadier general Cees van Lent, who until then has been working as Chief of the Personnel Department of the Royal Netherlands Army was installed as his successor.
On 27 May 1975 State Secretary for Justice Jan Glastra van Loon resigned due to a conflict with top officials at the Ministry of Defence after criticizing the department's leadership in an interview. On 6 June 1975 former Utrecht Alderman Henk Zeevalking was appointed his successor.
On 1 September 1975 State Secretary for Education and Sciences Antoon Veerman resigned because of health reasons. That same day Klaas de Jong, who until then has been working as rector of the Christian school in Amersfoort was installed as his successor.
On 1 January 1977 Minister of Defence Henk Vredeling resigned after he was appointed as European Commissioner for Employment and Social Affairs. That same day State Secretary for Defence Bram Stemerdink was appointed as his successor.
On 1 May 1977 State Secretary for the Interior Wim Polak resigned after he was appointed as Mayor of Amsterdam and because the cabinet was already demissionary he was not replaced.
On 8 September 1977 Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Justice Dries van Agt resigned because of the dualism of the constitutional convention in the States General of the Netherlands after he was elected as a Member of the House of Representatives. Minister of the Interior Gaius de Gaay Fortman took over both positions until the new cabinet was installed on 19 December 1977.
For the same reason, on 8 September 1977 State Secretary for Foreign Affairs Laurens Jan Brinkhorst, State Secretary for Justice Henk Zeevalking, State Secretary for Economic Affairs Ted Hazekamp, State Secretary for Education and Sciences Ger Klein, State Secretaries for Housing and Spatial Planning Jan Schaefer and Marcel van Dam and State Secretary for Culture, Recreation and Social Work Wim Meijer also resigned.
Patience Dabany, Queen Juliana, President of Gabon Omar Bongo and Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld at Soestdijk Palace op 14 May 1973.
François-Xavier Ortoli and Prime Minister Joop den Uyl at the Catshuis op 22 October 1973.
, Maria Barroso, Minister of Foreign Affairs Max van der Stoel and Prime Minister Joop den Uyl at the Catshuis op 4 May 1974.
and Prime Minister of Australia Gough Whitlam at Airport Schiphol on 3 January 1975.
and Prime Minister Joop den Uyl at the Catshuis on 25 June 1975.
and Prime Minister Joop den Uyl at the Ministry of General Affairs on 10 November 1975.
Leo Tindemans and Prime Minister Joop den Uyl during a Benelux conference in The Hague on 23 March 1976.
Henry Kissinger and Prime Minister Joop den Uyl at the Catshuis om 11 August 1976.
and First Secretary of the French Socialist Party François Mitterrand at the Catshuis om 28 September 1976.
and Minister of Foreign Affairs of East-Germany Oskar Fischer at the Ministry of General Affairs on 24 January 1977.
Kenneth Kaunda, Prime Minister Joop den Uyl and Minister of Foreign Affairs Max van der Stoel at the Ministry of General Affairs on 13 June 1977.
Oliver Tambo, Treasurer General of the African National Congress Thomas Nkobi and Minister for Development Cooperation Jan Pronk on 5 October 1977.

Composition