The second Kok cabinet, also called the second

Purple Purple is any of a variety of colors with hue between red and blue. In the RGB color model used in computer and television screens, purples are produced by mixing red and blue light. In the RYB color model historically used by painters, ...

cabinet was the executive branch of the

Dutch government The politics of the Netherlands take place within the framework of a parliamentary representative democracy, a constitutional monarchy, and a decentralised unitary state.''Civil service systems in Western Europe'' edited by A. J. G. M. Bekk ...

from 3 August 1998 until 22 July 2002. The cabinet was a continuation of the previous

first Kok cabinet First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...

and was formed by the social-democratic Labour Party (PvdA), the conservative-liberal

People's Party for Freedom and Democracy The People's Party for Freedom and Democracy ( nl, Volkspartij voor Vrijheid en Democratie ; VVD) is a conservative-liberal Andeweg, R. and G. Irwin ''Politics and Governance in the Netherlands'', Basingstoke (Palgrave) p.49 political party in ...

(VVD) and the

social-liberal Social liberalism (german: Sozialliberalismus, es, socioliberalismo, nl, Sociaalliberalisme), also known as new liberalism in the United Kingdom, modern liberalism, or simply liberalism in the contemporary United States, left-liberalism ...

Democrats 66 after the election of 1998. The cabinet was a

centrist Centrism is a political outlook or position involving acceptance or support of a balance of social equality and a degree of social hierarchy while opposing political changes that would result in a significant shift of society strongly to Left-w ...

grand coalition and had a substantial majority in the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

with

Labour Leader The ''Labour Leader'' was a British socialist newspaper published for almost one hundred years. It was later renamed ''New Leader'' and ''Socialist Leader'', before finally taking the name ''Labour Leader'' again. 19th century The origins of the ...

Wim Kok Willem "Wim" Kok (; 29 September 1938 – 20 October 2018) was a Dutch politician and trade union leader who served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 22 August 1994 until 22 July 2002.Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

. Prominent

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

politician

Annemarie Jorritsma Annemarie Jorritsma-Lebbink (born 1 June 1950) is a Dutch politician of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) and businesswoman. She is the Parliamentary leader in the Senate since 24 November 2015 and a Member of the Senate since 9 ...

the Minister of Transport and Water Management in the previous cabinet served as

Deputy Prime Minister A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to that of a vice president ...

and Minister of Economic Affairs, former Progressive-Liberal Leader

Els Borst Else "Els" Borst-Eilers (; 22 March 1932 – 8 February 2014) was a Dutch politician of the Democrats 66 (D66) party and physician. She was granted the honorary title of Minister of State on 21 December 2012. Borst worked as a medical researcher ...

continued as Minister of Health, Welfare and Sport and served as Deputy Prime Minister. The cabinet served during the

economic expansion An economic expansion is an increase in the level of economic activity, and of the goods and services available. It is a period of economic growth as measured by a rise in real GDP. The explanation of fluctuations in aggregate economic activit ...

of the late 1990s and early unstable 2000s. Domestically, it was able to implement several major social reforms such as legalizing

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being Mexico, constituting ...

, and had to deal with the

assassination of Pim Fortuyn Pim Fortuyn, a Dutch politician, was assassinated by Volkert van der Graaf in Hilversum, North Holland on 6 May 2002, nine days before the general election of 2002, in which he was leading the Pim Fortuyn List (LPF). On a few occasions, Fortu ...

. Internationally, it had to deal with several crises such as the fallout of the

Srebrenica massacre The Srebrenica massacre ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Masakr u Srebrenici, Масакр у Сребреници), also known as the Srebrenica genocide ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Genocid u Srebrenici, Геноцид у Сребрен ...

and the response to

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commer ...

. The cabinet suffered several major internal and external conflicts including multiple cabinet resignations; the cabinet itself resigned prematurely on two occasions: first following a major political crisis in May 1999, and second, following the conclusions of a

report A report is a document that presents information in an organized format for a specific audience and purpose. Although summaries of reports may be delivered orally, complete reports are almost always in the form of written documents. Usage In ...

into the Srebrenica massacre on 16 April 2002 and continued in a demissionary capacity until it was replaced following the election of 2002.

Formation

The new cabinet was the successor of the

First Kok cabinet First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...

(First

cabinet) and was formed from the same coalition of Labour Party,

and Democrats 66. It was also known as the 'tweede paarse kabinet' ('second purple cabinet') called such because it contained both the social-democratic Labour Party (red) and the liberal

(blue).

Term

The aim of the cabinet was to continue the policy of cabinet Kok I, which was concerned with economizing, tax reduction and making an end to unemployment. Wim Kok was the Prime Minister,

as the Deputy Prime Minister for the

, and

for Democrats 66. The cabinet was considered boring, because both left-wing and right-wing political parties were a part of it. There was no strong opposition in the parliament. The cabinet completed processes of liberalisation which were started by the previous cabinet: the legalisation of prostitution in 2000,

in 2001 and Euthanasia in 2002. This cabinet was notable for resigning twice. The first time was in May 1999, when Democrats 66 stepped out of the coalition when proposed legislation entered by this party was blocked; through negotiations the crisis was solved and the cabinet stayed together. The second and final time was on 16 April 2002, just one month before the next election, when Prime Minister Kok wished to resign over the

NIOD The NIOD Institute for War, Holocaust and Genocide Studies (Dutch: ''NIOD Instituut voor Oorlogs-, Holocaust- en Genocidestudies'') is an organisation in the Netherlands which maintains archives and carries out historical studies into the Second Wo ...

report into the genocide of

Srebrenica Srebrenica ( sr-cyrl, Сребреница, ) is a town and municipality located in the easternmost part of Republika Srpska, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is a small mountain town, with its main industry being salt mining and a nearby ...

in 1995 and the other ministers had no choice but to follow him. The Second Kok cabinet remained in place as a

Demissionary cabinet A demissionary cabinet ( nl, demissionair kabinet) is a type of caretaker cabinet in the Netherlands. A demissionary cabinet continues the current government after a cabinet has ended. This can either be after completion of the full term, betw ...

until 22 July 2002, when it was replaced by the First Balkenende cabinet.

Changes

On 7 June 1999 Minister of Agriculture, Nature and Fisheries Haijo Apotheker (D66) resigned citing that as a former Mayor he couldn't adjust to national politics. Minister of Social Affairs and Employment Klaas de Vries (PvdA) served as acting Minister of Agriculture, Nature and Fisheries until 9 June 1999 when

Member of the European Parliament A Member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the ECSC) first met in 1952, its ...

Laurens Jan Brinkhorst Laurens Jan Brinkhorst (born 18 March 1937) is a retired Dutch politician and diplomat of the Democrats 66 (D66) party and jurist. Early life and education Laurens-Jan Brinkhorst was born in the city of Zwolle. His parents were Marius Jacobus ...

(D66), a former State Secretary for Foreign Affairs was appointed as his successor. On 13 March 2000 Minister of the Interior and Kingdom Relations

Bram Peper Abraham "Bram" Peper (13 February 1940 – 20 August 2022) was a Dutch politician of the Labour Party (PvdA). Early life After finishing the Hogere Burgerschool, Peper studied social sciences at the University of Amsterdam until 1965 and eco ...

(PvdA) resigned after a report was released about inappropriate declarations he had made when he served as Mayor of Rotterdam. Minister for Integration and Urban Planning Roger van Boxtel (D66) served as acting Minister of the Interior and Kingdom Relations until 24 March 2000 when Minister of Social Affairs and Employment Klaas de Vries (PvdA) was installed as his successor. That same day State Secretary for Finance Willem Vermeend (PvdA) was appointed as Minister of Social Affairs and Employment and Member of the House of Representatives

Wouter Bos Wouter Jacob Bos (; (born 14 July 1963) is a retired Dutch politician of the Labour Party (PvdA) and businessman. Bos attended the Christian Gymnasium in Zeist from June 1975 until July 1980 and applied at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam ...

(PvdA) was installed as State Secretary for Finance. On 1 January 2001 State Secretary for Justice

Job Cohen Marius Job Cohen (; born 18 October 1947) is a retired Dutch politician and jurist who served as Mayor of Amsterdam from 2001 to 2010 and Leader of the Labour Party (PvdA) from 2010 to 2012. Cohen studied Law at the University of Groningen obt ...

(PvdA) resigned after he was appointed as

Mayor of Amsterdam Below is a list of Burgomaster, mayors (Dutch language, Dutch: ''burgemeesters'') of Amsterdam, capital of the Netherlands. The city had four burgomasters, serving four years. Since 1389 the mayors were elected on 1 February. In the 17th and 18th ...

. That same day Member of the House of Representatives

Ella Kalsbeek Neeltje Adriana (Ella) Kalsbeek (born 5 January 1955 in Middelburg, Zeeland, Middelburg) is a former Netherlands, Dutch politician. She was a member of House of Representatives of the Netherlands for the Labour Party (Netherlands), Labour Party ( ...

(PvdA) was installed as his successor. Frank de Grave William S

Cabinet members

: : : : : : : :

Trivia

* Seven cabinet members had previous experience as scholars and professors:

(Medical Ethics),

(Social Economics), Gerrit Zalm (Political Economics), Willem Vermeend (Fiscal Law),

(International Law and Relations),

(Jurisprudence) and

Rick van der Ploeg Frederick "Rick" van der Ploeg (born 28 April 1956, in Rotterdam) is a Dutch economist and former politician. Career After having obtained his PhD at the University of Cambridge, he held professorships in economics at the University of Amsterda ...

(Macroeconomics). * Seven cabinet members (later) served as Party Leaders:

Wim Kok Willem "Wim" Kok (; 29 September 1938 – 20 October 2018) was a Dutch politician and trade union leader who served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 22 August 1994 until 22 July 2002.Wouter Bos Wouter Jacob Bos (; (born 14 July 1963) is a retired Dutch politician of the Labour Party (PvdA) and businessman. Bos attended the Christian Gymnasium in Zeist from June 1975 until July 1980 and applied at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam ...

(2002–2010), Job Cohen (2010–2012) of the Labour Party, Gerrit Zalm (2002–2004) and Jozias van Aartsen (2004–2006) of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy, Els Borst (1998) and Laurens Jan Brinkhorst (1982) of the Democrats 66. * Eleven cabinet members (later) served as Mayor:

(Delfzijl and Almere), Bram Peper (Rotterdam), Jozias van Aartsen (The Hague and Amsterdam), Loek Hermans (Zwolle),

Tineke Netelenbos Tine "Tineke" Netelenbos-Koomen (born 15 February 1944) is a retired Dutch politician of the Labour Party (PvdA) and businesswoman. Netelenbos attended a Lyceum in Amsterdam from May 1960 until June 1966. Netelenbos worked as a civics teacher ...

(Ede, Haarlemmermeer and Oud-Beijerland), Haijo Apotheker (Muntendam, Veendam, Leeuwarden, Steenwijk, Steenwijkerland, Sneek, Súdwest-Fryslân, Waadhoeke and Noardeast-Fryslân), Job Cohen (Amsterdam), Henk van Hoof (Delfzijl), Annelies Verstand (Heteren and Zutphen), Geke Faber (Zeewolde, Wageningen, Den Helder and Zaanstad) and Johan Remkes (The Hague).

References

External links

;Official *
Kabinet-Kok II
Parlement & Politiek *
Kabinet-Kok II
Rijksoverheid {{DEFAULTSORT:Kok cabinet, Second Cabinets of the Netherlands 1998 establishments in the Netherlands 2002 disestablishments in the Netherlands Cabinets established in 1998 Cabinets disestablished in 2002 Grand coalition governments