Second Rutte cabinet

Second Rutte cabinet
Rutte–Asscher cabinet

Cabinet of the Netherlands
The installation of the second Rutte cabinet on 5 November 2012
Date formed5 November 2012 (2012-11-05)
Date dissolved26 October 2017 (2017-10-26)
4 years, 355 days in office
(Demissionary from 14 March 2017 (2017-03-14))
People and organisations
MonarchQueen Beatrix
(2012–2013)
King Willem-Alexander
(2013–2017)
Prime MinisterMark Rutte
Deputy Prime MinisterLodewijk Asscher
No. of ministers13
Ministers removed4
Total no. of members17
Member partyPeople's Party for
Freedom and Democracy

(VVD)
Labour Party
(PvdA)
Status in legislatureCentrist
Majority government
(Grand coalition/Purple)

79/150 (52.6%)




History
Election2012 election
Outgoing election2017 election
Legislature terms2012–2017
Incoming formation2012 formation
Outgoing formation2017 formation
PredecessorFirst Rutte cabinet
SuccessorThird Rutte cabinet

The second Rutte cabinet, also called the Rutte–Asscher cabinet, was the executive branch of the Government of the Netherlands from 5 November 2012 until 26 October 2017. The cabinet was formed by the conservative-liberal People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) and the social-democratic Labour Party (PvdA) after the election of 2012. The cabinet was a centrist grand coalition and had a slim majority in the House of Representatives. VVD Leader Mark Rutte served as Prime Minister; prominent PvdA politician Lodewijk Asscher, a former alderman of Amsterdam, served as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Social Affairs and Employment.

The cabinet served in the middle of the 2010s. Domestically, it had to deal with the Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 disaster, in which 193 Dutch citizens on board were killed when that civilian aircraft was shot down over Ukraine by a surface-to-air missile; while internationally, climate change was a major point of attention. The cabinet suffered several major internal conflicts such as multiple cabinet resignations, including those of two Justice Ministers. The cabinet completed its entire term, and was succeeded by the third Rutte cabinet following the 2017 election. Having spent four years and 355 days in office, it is the longest-serving post-war cabinet in the Netherlands.[1]

  1. ^ "Dutch queen swears in new centrist government under Prime Minister Mark Rutte". Fox News World. 5 November 2012. Retrieved 18 March 2017.