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Article: Queen Beatrix swears in new Dutch government, Balkenende reappointed prime minister
- Article from:
- AP Worldstream
- Article date:
- May 27, 2003
- Author:
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Dateline: THE HAGUE, Netherlands
As the Dutch struggle with recession, Queen Beatrix on Tuesday swore
in the second-term conservative government of Prime Minister Jan Peter
Balkenende, who pledged to take unpopular measures to cut spending.
Following tradition, Balkenende and his 15 ministers took their oaths
of office at the queen's Huis ten Bosch palace in The Hague, ending
a tortuous coalition-building process that began after the Jan. 22
elections _ the longest negotiations in a quarter century.
The new coalition combines Balkenende's Christian Democrats with the
free-market Liberal Party and the small centrist D-66, which together
control 78 of parliament's 150 ...