Minister of Foreign Affairs
In 1952 Wim Beyen, who did not belong to a political party, was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs in the Second Drees cabinet. He was asked in order to ensure a better balance of powers within the cabinet. It was an odd situation that Joseph Luns, who was a member of the Catholic People's Party, was Minister without portfolio in the same Ministry. One of the jokes about this construction was "The Netherlands is so small, and therefore their foreign countries altogether are so large, that one Minister of Foreign Affairs is not enough."
The relationship between both ministers was not too good, because they had a completely different style of operating and disagreed about several issues. Beyen, for instance, had serious objections to Luns' attitude in the disputes with Indonesia about Netherlands New Guinea.
After the 1956 elections Beyen's political career came to an end. There was no longer a need for a nonpartisan minister in the cabinet.
Read more about this topic: Johan Willem Beyen
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