Demissionary cabinet
Encyclopedia
A demissionary cabinet 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, between general elections (when the new house of representatives is installed) and the formation of a new cabinet, or after a cabinet crisis. In both cases the prime minister
hands in the resignation of his cabinet to the Dutch Monarch
. The Monarch will not accept full resignation until a new cabinet has been formed
. Between the moment in which the prime minister hands in the resignation and the monarch installs a new cabinet, the cabinet is labelled demissionary. As a demissionary cabinet is considered a continuation of the previous cabinet, it is not counted as a new cabinet (i.e. Balkenende IV did not become Balkenende V when becoming demissionary).
By constitutional convention, a demissionary cabinet has fewer powers than a conventional cabinet. The main aim of a demissionary cabinet is to organise elections and take care of ongoing business until the new cabinet comes into power. Thus, besides organising elections, it can only take care of urgent and pressing matters and not initiate controversial legislation. The States General
decide which affairs are urgent and pressing or not.
A demissionary cabinet takes care of policy during elections
and cabinet formation
. This is relevant as the formation process can take, in comparative terms, a very long time. An example of a very long-lasting caretaker government was the cabinet Den Uyl
between 22 March and 18 December 1977, during the formation of the cabinet Van Agt-I
.
In the case of the fall of a cabinet, there are several ways in which a cabinet can be a caretaker cabinet.
Caretaker government
Caretaker government is a type of government that rules temporarily. A caretaker government is often set up following a war until stable democratic rule can be restored, or installed, in which case it is often referred to as a provisional government...
cabinet
Cabinet of the Netherlands
The cabinet of the Netherlands is the main executive body of the Dutch government. The current cabinet of the Netherlands is the Rutte cabinet.-Composition and role:...
in the Netherlands
Politics of the Netherlands
The politics of the Netherlands take place within the framework of a parliamentary representative democracy, a constitutional monarchy and a decentralised unitary state. The Netherlands is described as a consociational state...
.
A demissionary cabinet continues the current government after a cabinet has ended. This can either be after completion of the full term, between general elections (when the new house of representatives is installed) and the formation of a new cabinet, or after a cabinet crisis. In both cases the prime minister
Prime Minister of the Netherlands
The Prime Minister of the Netherlands is the chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Netherlands. He is the de facto head of government of the Netherlands and coordinates the policy of the government...
hands in the resignation of his cabinet to the Dutch Monarch
Monarchy of the Netherlands
The Netherlands has been an independent monarchy since 16 March 1815, and has been governed by members of the House of Orange-Nassau since.-Constitutional role and position of the monarch:...
. The Monarch will not accept full resignation until a new cabinet has been formed
Dutch cabinet formation
The formation of a Dutch cabinet is a time consuming process, which is for the most part not codified in the constitution.- Formation process :After the elections or the fall of a cabinet, a process of cabinet formation starts...
. Between the moment in which the prime minister hands in the resignation and the monarch installs a new cabinet, the cabinet is labelled demissionary. As a demissionary cabinet is considered a continuation of the previous cabinet, it is not counted as a new cabinet (i.e. Balkenende IV did not become Balkenende V when becoming demissionary).
By constitutional convention, a demissionary cabinet has fewer powers than a conventional cabinet. The main aim of a demissionary cabinet is to organise elections and take care of ongoing business until the new cabinet comes into power. Thus, besides organising elections, it can only take care of urgent and pressing matters and not initiate controversial legislation. The States General
States-General of the Netherlands
The States-General of the Netherlands is the bicameral legislature of the Netherlands, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The parliament meets in at the Binnenhof in The Hague. The archaic Dutch word "staten" originally related to the feudal classes in which medieval...
decide which affairs are urgent and pressing or not.
A demissionary cabinet takes care of policy during elections
Elections in the Netherlands
Elections in the Netherlands are held for six territorial levels of government: the European Union, the state, the twelve Provinces of the Netherlands, the 25 water boards, the 418 municipalities and in two cities for neighbourhood councils...
and cabinet formation
Dutch cabinet formation
The formation of a Dutch cabinet is a time consuming process, which is for the most part not codified in the constitution.- Formation process :After the elections or the fall of a cabinet, a process of cabinet formation starts...
. This is relevant as the formation process can take, in comparative terms, a very long time. An example of a very long-lasting caretaker government was the cabinet Den Uyl
Netherlands cabinet Den Uyl
The Den Uyl cabinet was a Dutch left-wing cabinet under prime minister Joop den Uyl with ministers from PvdA, PPR, D66, KVP and ARP. The last two parties were actually moderately right-wing, but left-wing elements within these parties supported cabinet den Uyl to create a left-wing majority...
between 22 March and 18 December 1977, during the formation of the cabinet Van Agt-I
Netherlands cabinet Van Agt-1
The first Van Agt cabinet was a right-wing coalition of the CDA and the VVD. The Labour Party was the largest party after the elections, but the demands of Labour leader Joop den Uyl were too great for Christian-Democrat Dries van Agt, who formed a coalition with right-wing liberal Hans Wiegel...
.
In the case of the fall of a cabinet, there are several ways in which a cabinet can be a caretaker cabinet.
- The complete cabinet stays on post until a new cabinet is formed (e.g. all the ministers of Netherlands cabinet Kok-2 stayed on as a demissionary cabinet after the fall of the cabinet over Srebrenica).
- Part of the cabinet stays on post until a new cabinet is formed (example only CDA, CU minister of Netherlands cabinet Balkenende-4 stayed on as a demissionary cabinet after the resignation of the PvdA ministers over Uruzgan).
- A missionary minority cabinet is formed after the fall of a cabinet (and is not a demissionary cabinet). Such a minority caretaker cabinet has as primary task to organise elections. Yet it has much more authority in proposing new law and suggestion policy compared to a demissionary cabinet. The new cabinet is seen as a successor rather than the continuation of the fallen cabinet (example Netherlands cabinet Balkenende-3 followed up on Netherlands cabinet Balkenende-2).