Third cabinet Balkenende
| Third Balkenende cabinet | |
|---|---|
 66th cabinet of the Netherlands |
|
 |
|
| Date formed | 7 July 2006 |
| Date dissolved | 22 February 2007 |
| People and organisations | |
| Head of government | Jan Pieter Balkenende |
| Head of state | Beatrix of the Netherlands |
| Member party |
Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) |
| Status in legislature | demissionary minority cabinet |
| History | |
| Election(s) | 2003 |
| Outgoing election | 2006 |
| Incoming formation | N/A |
| Outgoing formation | 2006-2007 |
| Predecessor | Balkenende II |
| Successor | Balkenende IV |
The third Balkenende cabinet (Balkenende III) was formed on 7 July 2006 after a crisis in and the subsequent resignation of the second Balkenende cabinet. This caretaker cabinet of Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) and People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) was negotiated by former prime minister Ruud Lubbers. Its main tasks were the preparation of the early general election on 22 November 2006 and of the 2007 budget. On 22 February 2007, the cabinet was succeeded by the fourth Balkenende cabinet, consisting of the CDA, Labour Party (PvdA), and ChristianUnion (CU).
Although the constituent parties of Balkenende III (i.e., CDA and VVD) did not have a majority in the Second Chamber, the most important chamber of parliament, the cabinet had full power to propose laws, each of which needed to be supported by an ad hoc majority in parliament. Such minority cabinets are rare in Dutch politics; the previous one was the third Van Agt cabinet from 1982 to 1983, also a rump cabinet. CDA and VVD did have a majority (38 of 75 seats) in the Senate.
The third Balkenende cabinet consisted of 16 ministers and 7 junior ministers (staatssecretaris). These positions were distributed among the coalition parties according to their size in parliament: CDA obtained 9 ministers and 4 junior ministers, and VVD obtained 7 ministers and 3 junior ministers. All members of this cabinet had also served in the second Balkenende cabinet, except for junior minister for Education Bruno Bruins, who was scheduled to succeed former junior minister Mark Rutte, when the second Balkenende cabinet fell unexpectedly. Joop Wijn (economic affairs) and Atzo Nicolaï (governmental reform and kingdom relations) were promoted from junior minister to full minister to replace the D66 ministers of the second Balkenende cabinet.
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