To the rest of the world, Dutch politics seems as sane and stolid as a Rembrandt burgher and most of the time it is. Every few years, however, The Netherlands is gripped by a Cabinet crisis that leaves the country rudderless for even longer than customary in Italy or pre-Gaullist France. In 1956 the governmental vacuum lasted for 122 days, while the old Cabinet carried on as caretaker. By last week, when Queen Juliana flew back from an Italian vacation to swear in new Prime Minister Victor Marijnen, the government had taken...
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