European Journal of Political Research 28: 427-436, 1995. 0 1995 Kluwer Academic Publishers. Printed in the Netherlands.

THE NETHERLANDS

Paul Lucardie & Gerrit Voerman Documentatiecentrwn Nederlandse Politieke Partijen, University of Groningen

Table I. Elections for the Tweede Kamer

Date of election: Total number of seats: 150 Electorate: 11,455,924 Total votes cast: 9,027,887 (78.8%) Total valid votes: 8,981,556 (99.5%)

3 May 1994

No. Party

Votes Change Seats Change since since

N % 1989 N % 1989

34

23

24

29

38 14

26

35

-

-

Christian Democratic AppeaKhristen Democratisch Appd (CDA) Labour Partyk’artij van de Arbeid (PvdA) People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy Wolkspartij voor Vrijheid en Democratie (VVD) Democrats 661 Democraten 66 (D66) Green Left/GroenLinks Political Reformed Party/ Staatkundig Gereformeerde Partij (SGP) Reformed Political Union/ Gereformeerd Politiek Verbond (GPV) Reformed Political Federation/Gereformeerde Politieke Federatie (RPF) Centre Democrats/ Centrumdemocraten (CD) General Association of Elderly People (AOV)’

1,995,418

2,153,135

1,792,401

1,391,202

311,399 155,25 1

119,158

158,705

220,734

326,401

22.2

24.0

20.0

15.5

3.5 1.7

1.3

1.8

2.5

3.6

- 13.1

- 7.9

+ 5.4

+ 7.6

- 0.6 - 0.2

+ 0.1

+ 0.8

+ 1.6

-

34

37

31

24

5 2

2

3

3

6

22.7

24.7

20.7

16.0

3.3 1.3

1.3

2.0

2.0

4.0

- 13.3

- 8.0

+ 6.0

+ 8.0

- 0.7 - 0.7

-

+ 1.3

+ 1.3

+ 4.0

428 The Netherlands

- Socialist Party/ 118,768 1.3 + 0.9 2 1.3 + 1.3

- Union 55+/ 78,147 0.9 - 1 0.7 -

- others 159,837 1.8 + 0.9 0 0.0 - *

Socialistische Partij (SP)

Unie 55+ (U%+)'

Did not participate in 1989 elections.

Tuble 2. Cabinet composition on 1 January 1994

A. The party composition of Lubbers Il l

Date of investiture': 7 November 1989

Number and percentage Number and percentage No Party of parliamentary seats of cabinet posts 34 Christian Democratic Appeal/ 54 (36.0%) 7 (50.0%)

Christen Democratisch A p e 1 (CDA)

23 Labour PartyPartij van de Arbeid 49 (32.7%) 7 (50.0%) (PvdA)

B. Cabinet members of Lubbers I11

Prime minister, Minister of General AffairslMinister-president, Minister van Algemene Zaken: Ruud Lubbers (1939 male, CDA)

Vice prime minister, Minister of Financewice-minister-president, Minister van Financien: Wim Kok (1938 male, PvdA)

Minister of Foreign Affairshlinister van Buitenlandse Zaken: Pieter Kooijmans (1933 male, CDA)

Minister of Justicehlinister van Justitie: Ernst Hirsch Ballin (1950 male, CDA; resigned 27 May; see Changes in the cabinet)

Minister of Home Affairshlinister van Binnenlandse Zaken: len Dales (1931 female, PvdA, died 10 January 1994); succeeded on 18 January by Ed van Thijn (1934 male, PvdA; resigned 27 May; see Changes in the cabinet)

Minister of Education and SciencelMinister van Onderwijs en Wetenschappen: Jo Ritzen (1945 male, PvdA)

Minister of Defenceminister van Defensie: Relus ter Beek (1944, male, PvdA) Minister of Housing, Planning, and the Environmenthlinister van Volkshuisvesting, Ruimtelijke

Minister of Transport and Public Workshlinister van Verkeer en Waterstaat: Hanja Maij-

Minister of Economic Affairsminister van Economische Zaken: Koos Andriessen (1928 male,

Minister of Agriculture, Nature Management and FisheriesWinister van Landbouw,

Minister of Employment and Social SecurityWinister van Sociale Zaken en Werkgelegenheid:

Ordening en Milieu: Hans Alders (1952 male, PvdA)

Weggen (1943 female, CDA)

CDA)

Natuurbeheer en Visserij: Piet Bukman (1934 male, CDA)

Bert de Vries (1938 male, CDA)

The Netherlands 429

Minister of Welfare, Health and Cultural Affairshlinister van Welzijn, Volksgezondheid en

Minister for Development Cooperation/Minister voor Ontwikkelingssamenwerking: Jan Pronk Cultuur: Hedy d’Ancona (1937 female, PvdA)

(1940 male, PvdA) *

Dutch cabinets do not face a formal investiture.

Table 3. Cabinet composition on 31 December 1994

A. The party composition of Kok I

Date of investiture’: 22 August 1994

No 23

24

29

Party Labour Party/ Partij van de Arbeid (PvdA) People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy/Volkspartij voor Vrijheid en Democratie (VVD) Democrats 661 Democraten 66 (D66)

Number and percentage of parliamentary seats

Number and percentage of cabinet posts

37 (24.0%) 5 (35.7%)

31 (20.0%) 5 (35.7%)

24 (15.5%) 4 (28.6%)

B. Cabinet members of Kok I

Prime minister, Minister of General Affairshlinister-president, Minister van Algemene Zaken:

Vice prime minister, Minister of Home Affairs/ Vice-minister-president, Minister van

Vice prime minister, Minister of Foreign Affairswice-minister-president, Minister van

Minister of FinanceMinister van Financien: Gerrit Zalm (1952 male, VVD) Minister of Justicehlinister van Justitie: Winnie Sorgdrager (1948 female, D66) Minister of Education, Culture and Science/Minister van Onderwijs, Cultuur en Wetenschappen:

Minister of Defenceminister van Defensie: Joris Voorhoeve (1945 male, W D ) Minister of Housing, Planning, and Environment ManagementMinister van Volkshuisvesting,

Minister of Transport and Public Workshlinister van Verkeer en Waterstaat: Annemarie

Minister of Economic Affairshlinister van Economische Zaken: Hans Wijers (1951 male, DM) Minister of Agriculture, Nature Management and Fisheries; Minister van Landbouw,

Minister of Social Security and Employment/Minister van Sociale Zaken en Werkgelegenheid:

Minister of Health, Welfare and Sportminister van Volksgezondheid, Welzijn en Sport: Els

Wim Kok (1938 male, PvdA)

Binnenlandse Zaken: Hans Dijkstal (1943 male, VVD)

Buitenlandse Zaken: Hans van Mierlo (1931 male, D66)

Jo Ritzen (1945 male, PvdA)

Ruimtelijke Ordening en Milieubeheer: Margreeth de Boer (1939 female, PvdA)

Jorritsma-Lebbink (1950 female, VVD)

Natuurbeheer en Visserij: Jozias van Aartsen (1947 male, VVD)

Ad Melkert (1956 male, PvdA)

Borst-Eilers (1932 female, D66)

430 The Netherlands

Minister for Development Cooperation/Minister voor Ontwikkelingssamenwerking: Jan Pronk (1940 male, PvdA)

~

’ Dutch cabinets do not face a formal investiture.

Table 4. Results of European election

Date of election: Total number of seats: 31 Electorate: 11,618,677 Total votes cast: 4,146,730 (35.7%) Total valid votes: 4,133,557 (99.7%)

9 June 1994

No. Party

Votes Change Seats Change since since

N % 1989 N % 1989

34

23

24

29

38

Christian Democratic 1,271,855 30.8 - 3.8 10 32.3 - 7.3 Appeal-European People’s PartyKhristen Democratisch Appbl-Europese Volkspartij

Labour Party-Party of 945,869 22.9 - 7.8 8 25.8 - 6.2 European Social Democrats/ Partij van de Arbeid- Partij van Europese Sociaal-Democraten (PvdA-PES) People’s Party for Freedom 740,443 17.9 + 4.3 6 19.4 + 7.4 and Democracy-European Liberal Democrats Volkspartij voor Vrijheid en Democratie-Europese Liberaien en Democraten (VVD-ELD) Democrats 66/ 481,843 11.7 + 5.7 4 12.9 + 8.9 Democraten 66 (D66) Political Reformed Party- 322,793 7.8 + 1.9 2 6.5 + 2.5 Reformed Political Union- Reformed Political Federation/Staatkundig Gereformeerde Partij - Gereformeerd Politiek Verbond-Gereformeerde Politieke Federatie

Green Left/GroenLinks’ 154,547 3.7 - 3.3 1 3.2 - 4.8

(CDA-EVP)

(SGP-GPV- RPF)

The Netherlands 43 1

- GreensDe Groenen 97,206 2.4 + 2.4 0 0.0 - - Socialist Party/

- Centre Democrats/ 55,311 1.3 + 0.6 0 0.0 -

- A better future/ 11,547 0.3 + 0.3 0 0.0 -

- List de Groen/ 8,844 0.2 + 0.2 0 0.0 -

Socialistische Partij (SP)

Centrumdemocraten (CD)

Een betere toekomst

Lijst de Groen

* In 1989 the parties that would later merge into GroenLinks presented a Rainbow List (Regenboog) with some independent candidates.

Election reporVanalysis

On March 2, elections were held for municipal councils in The Netherlands. For many voters, the local elections provided an opportunity to express their dissatisfaction with the national government: both governing parties, CDA and PvdA, suffered heavy losses, whereas all opposition parties, large and small, increased their number of municipal councillors. Several new national and local parties gained seats as well.

In a sense, the local elections were a rehearsal for the general elections of May 3. The outcome of these elections were exceptional, and in the eyes of most observers, the elections were a political earthquake. The main losers were the two government parties, CDA and PvdA, which lost their safe majo- rity of 103 (out of 150) seats and went down to a combined total of just 71 seats. In addition, three new parties entered parliament. The PvdA fell from 49 to 37 seats-its second lowest score since its foundation in 1946. Yet the Social Democrats managed to reduce the losses opinion polls had predicted, by concentrating their election campaign on their leader, Wim Kok. Though not a charismatic leader, Kok had acquired a solid and trustworthy reputation as Minister of Finance. Even so, some Social Democrats had not forgiven him for defending serious and unexpected cuts in social security-in particu- lar the payments for industrial disability-in 1991.

The Christian Democrats, who had held an absolute majority (75 seats or more) until 1963 and 54 seats since 1989, reached an all-time low of 34 seats. The CDA shared the responsibility for the already mentioned cuts in social security. The party made things worse by discussing another reduction of social security in January 1994, when they presented their election plat- form which spoke of freezing the general pension for all citizens over 65 (AOW) paid by the state. All pensioners’ organisations reacted furiously against this suggestion. The party chairman, who had led the discussion during the presentation of the election platform, resigned because of this.

Obviously, this was a poor start for an election campaign. Yet worse was

432 The Netherlands

to come. Prime Minister Lubbers-who had gained large popularity since he became head of government in 1982-had announced already in the early 1990s that he would not lead his party in the next national elections. He had designated as successor Elco Brinkman, the leader of the parliamentary party and Minister of Welfare, Health and Cultural Affairs in 1982-1989. Relations between the two became tense, however, as Brinkman started to attack the centre-left coalition. With respect to the industrial disability act (Wet op de A r ~ e ~ d ~ o ~ g e ~ c ~ ~ ~ ~ e ~ ~ , WAO) and the official minimum wage, Brinkman proposed severe measures the cabinet was not willing to accept. On the other hand, Lubbers did not allow Brinkman much room to develop a solid base of support within the Christian Democratic party and its electorate. Moreover, the Protestant Brinkman lacked the flexibility and charm of the Catholic Lubbers. In January, he failed to placate the pensioners’ organisations, as Lubbers might have done. In April reporters of the Catholic Broadcasting Association-usually sympathetic towards the CDA-revealed that Brinkman was a member of the board of directors of a company, managed by a relative, which was accused of tax-fraud. Though Brinkman maintained his inno- cence-and resigned his directorship a little later-his reputation had been damaged quite seriously. Even Lubbers seemed reluctant to support his ‘crown prince’ in the campaign.

Also in April, Ernst Hirsch Ballin, Minister of Justice, and number 3 on the list of the CDA, made a controversial speech about the dangers of euthanasia. If the Christian Democrats would be relegated to the opposition, he warned, the time might come that euthanasia of Downs syndrome babies would be considered a normal thing to do. Democrats, Liberals and Social Democrats reacted angrily; Ed van Thijn, Minister of Home Affairs and leading member of the PvdA, called Hirsch Ballin a ‘fundamentalist’. Lubbers, however, defended his Minister of Justice and announced that on May 3 he would cast his vote for number 3 on the list of the CDA-Hirsch Ballin, rather than number 1-Brinkman.

Apart from these personal matters, issues like unemployment and social security dominated the campaign. Towards the end, the issue of legal and illegal immigration gained salience. In the final television debate, on May 2, the Liberal leader Frits Bolkestein said that schools should refuse children of illegal immigrants. The leaders of the other parties in the debate rejected this suggestion rather emphatically. In the eyes of most voters, immigration and ethnic minorities were the most important political problem in 1994. Thus Bolkestein may have contributed to the electoral success of his party, the Volkspartij voor Vrijheid en Democratie (VVD: People’s party for Freedom and Democracy) with his statements on this topic. The largest opposition party benefited from widespread feelings of discontent in other areas as well. So did the second-largest opposition party, the leftwing liberal Democrats 66 (D66), led by the popular founder of the party, Hans van Mierlo. D66 and VVD were the major winners of the elections (Table 1).

The Netherlands 433

The turnout was a little lower than in 1989, but not as low as feared by many politicians. As noted, the main losers were CDA and PvdA. Surpri- singly, the leftwing opposition party GroenLinks (Green Left) did not benefit at all from the demise of the Social Democrats but lost one seat; perhaps because of not very popular leaders-Ina Brouwer, once leader of the Communist Party of the Netherlands, and Mohammed Rabbae, an immigrant from Morocceand not very popular issues: environment and multi-cultura- lism.

The newcomer SP seemed to have benefited more from the electoral crisis of the PvdA. The SP was founded already in 1971 as ‘Communist Party of the Netherlands/Marxist-Leninist’ and changed its name for tactical reasons into ‘Socialist Party’ in 1972. Gradually it has shed its Maoist past and moderated its revolutionary programme; though still inspired by Marxist ideas, in recent years it has tried to claim the socialist legacy that both PvdA and GroenLinks appeared to abandon. Indeed, most of its voters seem to be disappointed Social Democrats, and, in some areas, also disappointed Com- munists who regretted the merger of their party into GroenLinks in 1991.

Apart from D66 and VVD, winners were also the other new parties, AOV (Algemeen Ouderenverbond, General Association of Elderly People) and U55+ (Unie 55+, Union 55+). Both benefited from the general feelings of discontent and alienation among pensioners and in particular the fear that Christian Democrats and possibly other parties might freeze the state pen- sions. Especially the AOV attracted many disgruntled voters as well as local cadres from the CDA. The party had been founded in Eindhoven in 1993 with support from Frits Philips, the retired president of the multinational Philips company. Soon after it had entered parliament, the AOV became the victim of severe internal conflicts. In October one MP, The0 Hendriks, left the parliamentary group because he refused to bow to party discipline. He remained MP, however. Apart from the new protest parties, the xenophobic Centre Democrats (CD) also wooed voters away from the major parties-but not as many as polls had predicted earlier. Internal strife and competition with an even more radical splinter party may have prevented further progress.

As usual, the three small Protestant parties retained most of their vot- ers-bound by political as well as religious, denominational ties to the parties. Yet the very orthodox Calvinist SGP (Staatkundig Gereformeerde Partij, Reformed Political Party) lost one seat, probably because of its refusal (in 1993) to open its ranks to women. Some of its (female) voters might have switched to the more modern Reformed Political Federation (RPF).

European elections

After the local and national elections, Dutch voters seemed worn out and reluctant to go to the polls on June 9 to elect members of the European

434 The Netherlands

Parliament. The turnout was unusually low: 35.7 per cent. Again, D66 and VVD did very well: the Democrats went from 1 to 4 seats, the Liberals from 3 to 6 seats. CDA and PvdA lost votes, but maintained their number of seats (10 and 8 respectively) because the Dutch contingent in the European Parliament increased from 25 to 31 seats. GroenLinks, which can be consid- ered the successor of the Rainbow List presented in 1989, lost one seat, mainly because of competition with the more ecologistic Green Party De Groenen. The latter was led by Herman Verbeek, a Catholic priest who had been elected member of the European Parliament for the Rainbow List in 1989, but fell out with his party when he refused to give up his seat accord- ing to a rotation procedure agreed in 1989. Two lists led by independent candidates were not successful. (See Table 4.)

Changes of the cabinet

After the elections began the formation of the new government, which, in the Netherlands, is a rather time-consuming process. On May 6 the Queen appointed the chairman of the Senate as informateur. He had to examine the possible party coalitions for a new government. The existing combination of CDA and PvdA-which had governed since 1989-had lost its majority and was therefore not a real option. The leftwing liberal D66 was not willing to extend a helping hand to the centre-left coalition. I t also did not want to form a centre-right cabinet together with CDA and the rightwing liberal VVD. As a consequence of the results of the elections, the left-liberals this time took a pivotal position in the process of cabinet formation. At the insistence of D66, a so-called ‘purple coalition’ existing of PvdA, VVD and D66-thus without the CDA-was discussed.

On June 27, negotiations over this coalition foundered on the demands of the VVD, which demanded financial cuts in social security. PvdA and D66 were now willing to form a centre-left cabinet with the CDA. Its leader Brinkman, however, stuck to his preference for a centre-right cabinet with VVD and D66, although he knew that this option was not negotiable for the latter. The deadlock was ended by the Queen. She was advised by the chair- man of the Senate to give the initiative to the VVD, but instead she decided to appoint PvdA-leader Kok as informateur. Her clear intervention in the process of cabinet formation caused quite a stir, but was constitutionally correct. I t was also effective, for Kok was able to reach agreement between PvdA, D66 and VVD. On August 22, 11 1 days after the elections, the ‘purple coalition’ became a reality. In Kok’s new cabinet, PvdA and VVD both furnished five ministers, with four going to D66 (see Table 3). For the first time since 1918-when the system of proportional representation and man- hood suffrage was introduced+hristian democratic politicians did not participate in a Dutch government.

The Netherlands 435

Changes in the cabinet

On January 10 the Minister of Home Affairs Ien Dales (PvdA) died unex- pectedly. She was succeeded on January 18 by Ed van Thijn (1934 male, PvdA), who had been mayor of Amsterdam since 1983 and who had already been Minister of Home Affairs in 1981-1982. Van Thijn was considered to be one of the top candidates for ministerial posts of the PvdA in a coming cabinet. His political career did not last long, however. On May 27 he and his colleague, the Minister of Justice Ernst Hirsch Ballin (CDA), had to resign under pressure from parliament-a very unusual event in a post- election period, as the whole cabinet was soon to be replaced by a new one anyhow (it is custom in The Netherlands that a cabinet remains in office after elections until a new cabinet has been officially installed by the Queen). Parliament-in which the governing parties CDA and PvdA no longer held a majority after the elections-had lost confidence in both ministers, who were held responsible for the failure of the coordinated campaign against organized crime by the police forces in the West of The Netherlands.

Issues in national politics

The first eight months of 1994 were dominated by the three elections and the process of cabinet formation. On August 31 Prime Minister Kok stated the government’s declaration of policy. He announced cuts of Dfl. 18 billion in the budgets for social welfare, defense, culture and education in the coming years. In September the first budget of the purple coalition was presented. Welfare benefits like WAO and family allowances were frozen and state subsidies on rents were lowered. Dental costs were no longer fully repaid by the health insurance. Scholarships for students were reduced and tuition fees raised. The CDA, now in opposition for the first time, reacted rather mildly to these proposals. The parliamentary party was led by Enneiis Heerma, the successor of Brinkman, who had resigned under the pressure of the party executive on August 16, and he clearly had still to get used to his new role of leader of the opposition. During the parliamentary debates on the state budget the Christian democrats suggested no radical changes at all.

At the start of the new government period, the coalition partners announced a break with the monistic tradition of the cabinets headed by Lubbers. During his reign many potential political problems had been solved in consultations between the top politicians of the governing parties, after which parliament only had to approve the compromises. The advocated dualism, however, induced parliamentary unpredictability and volatility. Not infrequently, the coalition partners were divided, some voting with the government and others with the opposition, as, for instance, on the question of whether one of the

436 The Netherlands

two Dutch nuclear power stations was to close down within a few years, or whether immigration rules were to be tightened, or whether social benefits and welfare payments were to be linked to wage increases.

Sources and further information

H. Daalder and C.J.M. Schuyt (eds), Compendium voor Potitiek en Somenleving in Nederland (Houten: Bohn Stafleu Van Loghum, 1986- ).

J. Hippe, P. Lucardie and G. Voerman, ‘Kroniek 1994. Overzicht van de partijpolitieke gebeurienissen van het jaar 1994’, Juurhoek 1994 Documentutiecentrurn Nederlandse Politieke Purtijen (Groningen: Universiteitsdrukkerij, 1995), 14-9 1.

Kabinet-Kok. Keuzen voor de toekomst (Den Haag: Sdu Uitgeverij Plantijnstaat, 1994). Statistiek der verkiezingen 1994. Tweede Kumer, 3 mei (Voorburg/Heerlen, Centraal Bureau voor

de Statistiek, 1994). G.G.J. Thissen (ed), Parlement en Kiezer. Werkznamheden zittingsjoar 1993-1994 (Groningen:

Wolters Noordhoff, 1995). Paul Lucardie en Gerrit Voerman, ‘Tweede-Kamerverkiezingen zorgden voor electorale

aardverschuiving. Kroniek van de Nederlandse politiek’, Staatscourant, 21 December 1994. J.J.M. van Holsteyn and B. Niemoller (eds), De Nederlundse Kiezer, 1994 (Leiden: DSWO

Press, 1995).