De Jong cabinet

Following the fall of the Cals cabinet on 14 October 1966 the Labour Party (PvdA) left the coalition, subsequently Queen Juliana appointed Senator Jelle Zijlstra (ARP), a former Minister of Finance as Prime Minister to form a rump cabinet with the Catholic People's Party and the Anti-Revolutionary Party. On 22 November 1966 the Zijlstra cabinet was installed and served as a caretaker government until the election of 1967.

After the election on 15 February 1967 the Catholic People's Party was the winner of the election even after losing 8 seats and had now a total of 40 seats in the House of Representatives. Incumbent Prime Minister Jelle Zijlstra was appointed as Informateur by Queen Juliana to start the cabinet formation process. After a first round of talks the Catholic People's Party, People's Party for Freedom and Democracy, Anti-Revolutionary Party and the Christian Historical Union agreed to form a coalition. On 6 March 1967, Queen Juliana appointed Vice-President of the Council of State Louis Beel (KVP), a former Prime Minister as the new Informateur to start the next formation phase.

On 9 March 1967 incumbent Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries Barend Biesheuvel, the Leader of the Anti-Revolutionary Party was asked to form a new cabinet and was asked to become Formateur. The negotiations were troubled by objections from the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy about prospect of Barend Biesheuvel as Prime Minister because he served in the previous Centre-left Cals cabinet. On 20 March 1967 after long negotiations between the parties, Barend Biesheuvel failed to form a cabinet. In order to break the deadlock the Catholic People's Party suggested that incumbent Minister of Defence Piet de Jong (KVP) would be a good candidate to form a new cabinet. Piet de Jong a former Naval officer who served as a World War II submarine commander had a good reputation as a pragmatic minister and was seen as a compromise candidate. On 21 March 1967 Piet de Jong was tasked with forming a new cabinet and was appointed as Formateur. On 4 April 1967 the cabinet formation was completed and the De Jong cabinet was installed the next day.

It was the first Cabinet of the Netherlands after World War II 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. Internationally, relations with Indonesia improved, resulting in a visit by president Suharto, which was, however, overshadowed by the occupation of the Indonesian embassy by Moluccans. The Soviet Union invasion in Czechoslovakia was seen as a reason to increase the defence budget.[2]

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 House of Representatives was highly critical in his handling of the rising inflation after the introduction of the value-added tax (BTW) on 1 January 1969. Minister of Finance Johan Witteveen (VVD) served as acting Minister of Economic Affairs until 14 January 1970 when Member of the House of Representatives Roelof Nelissen (KVP) was appointed as his successor.

Incoming Minister of Education and Sciences Gerard Veringa and incoming Prime Minister Piet de Jong during a meeting at the Ministry of General Affairs on 5 April 1967.

The first meeting the De Jong cabinet in the Trevezaal on 7 April 1967.

The first meeting the De Jong cabinet in the Trevezaal on 7 April 1967.

Taoiseach of Ireland Jack Lynch and Prime Minister Piet de Jong during a meeting at the Ministry of General Affairs on 22 June 1967.

Secretary of State for Foreign of the United Kingdom George Brown, Prime Minister Piet de Jong, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Harold Wilson and Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Luns at 10 Downing Street on 19 February 1968.

Secretary-General of the United Nations U Thant and Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Luns during a press conference at Airport Schiphol on 7 April 1968.

Prime Minister of Luxembourg Pierre Werner, Prime Minister Piet de Jong and Prime Minister of Belgium Gaston Eyskens during a Benelux conference in The Hague on 28 April 1968.

Prime Minister Piet de Jong, Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Luns, Prime Minister of Belgium Gaston Eyskens and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belgium Pierre Harmel at The Hague Central on 4 February 1969.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Luns, Minister for Youth, Family and Health of West–Germany Katharina Focke, Vice-Chancellor of West–Germany and Minister for Foreign Affairs of West–Germany Walter Scheel, Prime Minister of France Jacques Chaban-Delmas, Chancellor of West–Germany Willy Brandt and Prime Minister Piet de Jong during a European Economic Community meeting in The Hague on 2 December 1969.

Prime Minister of Lesotho Leabua Jonathan and Prime Minister Piet de Jong during a meeting at the Ministry of General Affairs on 4 November 1970.

Ministers			Title/Ministry		Term of office	Party
		Piet de Jong (1915–2016)	Prime Minister	General Affairs	5 April 1967 – 6 July 1971	Catholic People's Party
		Dr. Johan Witteveen (1921–2019)	Deputy Prime Minister / Minister	Finance	5 April 1967 – 6 July 1971	People's Party for Freedom and Democracy
		Joop Bakker (1921–2003)	Deputy Prime Minister / Minister	Transport and Water Management	5 April 1967 – 6 July 197	Anti-Revolutionary Party
		Henk Beernink (1910–1979)	Minister	Interior	5 April 1967 – 6 July 1971	Christian Historical Union
		Dr. Joseph Luns (1911–2002)	Minister	Foreign Affairs	13 October 1956 – 6 July 1971 [Retained]	Catholic People's Party
		Carel Polak (1909–1981)	Minister	Justice	5 April 1967 – 6 July 1971	People's Party for Freedom and Democracy
		Leo de Block (1904–1988)	Minister	Economic Affairs	5 April 1967 – 7 January 1970 [Res]	Catholic People's Party
		Dr. Johan Witteveen (1921–2019)			7 January 1970 – 14 January 1970 [Ad interim]	People's Party for Freedom and Democracy
		Roelof Nelissen (1931–2019)			7 January 1970 – 14 January 1970	Catholic People's Party
		Lieutenant general Willem den Toom (1911–1998)	Minister	Defence	5 April 1967 – 6 July 1971	People's Party for Freedom and Democracy
		Bauke Roolvink (1912–1979)	Minister	Social Affairs and Health	5 April 1967 – 6 July 1971	Anti-Revolutionary Party
		Dr. Gerard Veringa (1924–1999)	Minister	Education and Sciences	5 April 1967 – 6 July 1971	Catholic People's Party
		Pierre Lardinois (1924–1987)	Minister	Agriculture and Fisheries	5 April 1967 – 1 January 1973	Catholic People's Party
		Wim Schut (1920–2006)	Minister	Housing and Spatial Planning	5 April 1967 – 6 July 1971	Anti-Revolutionary Party
		Dr. Marga Klompé (1912–1986)	Minister	Culture, Recreation and Social Work	22 November 1966 – 7 January 1971 [Retained] [Note]	Catholic People's Party
		Dr. Gerard Veringa (1924–1999)			7 January 1971 – 22 February 1971 [Ad interim]	Catholic People's Party
		Dr. Marga Klompé (1912–1986)			22 February 1971 – 6 July 1971	Catholic People's Party
Ministers without portfolio			Title/Portfolio/Ministry		Term of office	Party
		Joop Bakker (1921–2003)	Minister	Suriname and Netherlands Antilles Affairs (within Interior)	5 April 1967 – 6 July 197	Anti-Revolutionary Party
		Bé Udink (1926–2016)	Minister	Aid to Developing Countries (within Foreign Affairs)	5 April 1967 – 6 July 1971	Christian Historical Union
State Secretaries			Title/Portfolio/Ministry		Term of office	Party
		Chris van Veen (1922–2009)	State Secretary	• Central Government Affairs • Provincial Government Affairs • Local Government Affairs • Government Real Estate (within Interior)	10 May 1967 – 6 July 1971	Christian Historical Union
		Hans de Koster (1914–1992)	State Secretary	• European Affairs • NATO Affairs • Benelux Affairs (within Foreign Affairs)	12 June 1967 – 6 July 1971	People's Party for Freedom and Democracy
		Dr. Ferd Grapperhaus (1927–2010)	State Secretary	• Fiscal Affairs • Tax and Customs Administration (within Finance)	10 May 1967 – 6 July 1971	Catholic People's Party
		Dr. Klaas Wiersma (1917–1993)	State Secretary	• Integration • Immigration • Asylum Affairs • Privacy Policy • Family Law • Youth Justice (within Justice)	20 April 1970 – 6 July 1971	People's Party for Freedom and Democracy
		Louis van Son (1922–1986)	State Secretary	• International Trade • Export Promotion • Small Business Policy • Retail Policy • Competition Policy • Regional Development • Tourism Affairs (within Economic Affairs)	28 November 1966 – 6 July 1971 [Retained]	Catholic People's Party
		Lieutenant general Joop Haex (1911–2002)	State Secretary	• Army (within Defence)	18 April 1967 – 6 July 1971	Christian Historical Union
		Vice admiral Adri van Es (1913–1994)		• Navy (within Defence)	14 August 1963 – 16 September 1972 [Retained]	Anti-Revolutionary Party
		Bob Duynstee (1920–2014)		• Air Force (within Defence)	28 April 1967 – 6 July 1971	Catholic People's Party
		Dr. Roelof Kruisinga (1922–2012)	State Secretary	• Social Security • Occupational Safety • Elderly Policy • Disability Affairs • Veteran Affairs • Medical Ethics Policy (within Social Affairs and Health)	18 April 1967 – 6 July 1971	Christian Historical Union
		Hans Grosheide (born 1930)	State Secretary	• Primary Education • Secondary Education • Special Education (within Education and Sciences)	3 September 1963 – 6 July 1971 [Retained]	Anti-Revolutionary Party
		Mike Keyzer (1911–1983)	State Secretary	• Transport Infrastructure • Aviation Infrastructure • Water Infrastructure • Public Transport • Postal Service • Weather Forecasting Service (within Transport and Water Management)	18 April 1967 – 6 July 1971	People's Party for Freedom and Democracy
		Hein van de Poel (1915–1993)	State Secretary	• Unemployment Affairs • Social Services • Youth Policy • Poverty Policy • Environmental Policy • Nature Policy • Recreation Affairs • Sport (within Culture, Recreation and Social Work)	29 May 1967 – 6 July 1971	Catholic People's Party
Source: (in Dutch) Rijksoverheid

^Retained Retained this position from the previous cabinet.

^Res Resigned.

^{Ad interim} Served ad interim.

^Note Marga Klompé took a medical leave of absence from 7 January 1971 until 22 February 1971

Official

• (in Dutch) Kabinet-De Jong Parlement & Politiek
• (in Dutch) Kabinet-De Jong Rijksoverheid

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