First Van Agt cabinet
The First Van Agt cabinet, also called the Van Agt–Wiegel cabinet was the cabinet of the Netherlands from 19 December 1977 until 11 September 1981. The cabinet was formed by the political parties Christian Democratic Appeal and the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy after the election of 1977. The right-wing cabinet was a majority government in the House of Representatives. The Van Agt–Wiegel cabinet was the first to be composed of the newly formed Christian Democratic Appeal, which was formed from the Anti-Revolutionary Party, the Catholic People's Party and the Christian Historical Union on 11 October 1980. It was the first of three cabinets of Dries van Agt, the Leader of the Christian Democratic Appeal as Prime Minister, with Hans Wiegel the Leader of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy serving as Deputy Prime Minister.
Formation
After the 1977 general election the Labour Party of incumbent Prime Minister Joop den Uyl was the winner of the election which won ten new seats and had now a total of 53 seats. The People's Party for Freedom and Democracy of Hans Wiegel won six seats and had now 28 seats. The Anti-Revolutionary Party, Catholic People's Party and the Christian Historical Union participated for the first time as the combined party Christian Democratic Appeal with Dries van Agt as its new Leader. This electoral fusion resulted in one new seat and now had a total of 49 seats in the House of Representatives. A long negotiation between the Labour Party and Christian Democratic Appeal followed. Both parties had come out of the elections as equal partners. The negotiations were troubled by the personal animosity between incumbent Prime Minister and Leader of the Labour Party Joop den Uyl and the Leader of the Christian Democratic Appeal Dries van Agt. Van Agt who served as Deputy Prime Minister under Den Uyl his cabinet had a bad working relationship. In the end Van Agt found that the demands of the Den Uyl were too great and instead he formed a coalition with the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy.Term
The cabinet had to deal with a major economic depression, but refused to cut government spending due to fierce left-wing opposition in the parliament, which had nearly half of the seats. Many left-wing demonstrations were held on the street against the government. Notorious were the harsh demonstrations in Amsterdam during the crowning of Queen Beatrix and the squatting riots. There was a sharp increase in unemployment and the government was seen to have created too much debt.Changes
On 5 March 1978 Minister of Defence Roelof Kruisinga resigned in-protest after the cabinet decided to not publicly condemn the United States for further developing the Neutron bomb. Minister for Development Cooperation Jan de Koning served as acting Minister of Defence until 8 March 1978 when Member of the Council of State Willem Scholten was appointed as his successor.On 1 April 1979 Minister for Science Policy Rinus Peijnenburg unexpectedly died from a heart attack at the age of 51. Minister of Health and Environment Leendert Ginjaar served as acting Minister for Science Policy until 3 May 1979 when Ton van Trier, who until then had been working as a professor of electrical engineering at the Eindhoven University of Technology was installed as his successor. Ton van Trier an Independent Christian Democrat joined the Catholic People's Party that same month.
On 22 February 1980 Minister of Finance Frans Andriessen resigned after disagreeing with the cabinets decision to not implement a stronger austerity policy. State Secretary for Finance Ad Nooteboom declares his solidarity with Frans Andriessen and also resigned that same day.
Minister of Economic Affairs Gijs van Aardenne served as acting Minister of Finance until 5 March 1980 when Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries Fons van der Stee was appointed as Minister of Finance. That same day Member of the House of Representatives Gerrit Braks was installed as Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries. On 16 April 1980 Member of the House of Representatives Marius van Amelsvoort was appointed as State Secretary for Finance.
On 25 August 1980 Minister of Defence Willem Scholten resigned after he was appointed Vice-President of the Council of State. That same day former naval officer Pieter de Geus, who until then had been working as a top official at the Ministry of Defence was appointed as his successor.
On 1 September 1981 ten days before the new cabinet took office Minister for Housing and Spatial Planning Pieter Beelaerts van Blokland resigned after he had been appointed Mayor of Apeldoorn. Minister of Transport and Water Management Dany Tuijnman took over the position until the new cabinet was installed on 11 September 1981.
on 19 December 1977.
Boy Rozendal and Deputy Prime Minister Hans Wiegel at a press conference in The Hague on 26 January 1978.
, President of the European Commission Roy Jenkins and Prime Minister Dries van Agt at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on 21 March 1978.
at the Ministry of General Affairs on 17 May 1978.
and Minister for Development Cooperation Jan de Koning at an Inter-Governmental Group on Indonesia meeting in The Hague on 22 May 1978.
and Leader of the Christian Democratic Union of Germany Helmut Kohl at the Ministry of General Affairs on 13 September 1978.
Dawda Jawara and Minister for Development Cooperation Jan de Koning in Amsterdam on 21 November 1978.
Walter Mondale Second Lady of the United States Joan Mondale, Prime Minister Dries van Agt and Eugenie van Agt-Krekelberg at the Catshuis on 21 April 1979.
Ziaur Rahman and Prime Minister Dries van Agt at the Ministry of General Affairs on 23 April 1979.
and Secretary General of NATO Joseph Luns at a NATO summit in The Hague on 30 May 1979.
Ahmadou Ahidjo and Deputy Prime Minister Hans Wiegel at the Catshuis on 5 July 1979.
and Minister of Foreign Affairs Chris van der Klaauw at Airport Schiphol on 31 July 1979.
and Minister of Foreign Affairs Chris van der Klaauw in The Hague on 23 January 1980.
, Minister of Foreign Affairs of France Jean François-Poncet and Prime Minister of France Raymond Barre at the Catshuis on 18 March 1980.
and Prime Minister Dries van Agt at the Catshuis on 13 May 1980.
and Minister of Foreign Affairs Chris van der Klaauw at Airport Schiphol on 5 June 1980.
Gaston Thorn and Prime Minister Dries van Agt at the Catshuis on 22 October 1980.
, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Margaret Thatcher and Prime Minister Dries van Agt at the Catshuis on 6 February 1981.
, Princess Margriet, Chancellor of West-Germany Helmut Schmidt, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Margaret Thatcher and President of France Valéry Giscard d'Estaing at a European Council summit in Maastricht on 23 March 1981.
Zenkō Suzuki and Prime Minister Dries van Agt at the Catshuis on 18 June 1981.