The cabinet fell just 19 months into its term and he was not offered a post in the new cabinet. Marijnen left office upon the installation of the Cals cabinet on 14 April 1965 but returned as a member of the House of Representatives, serving as a backbencher from 27 April 1965 until his resignation on 14 January 1966. Marijnen also became active in the public sector as a non-profit director and served on several state commissions and councils on behalf of the government. Marijnen continued to be active in politics and in September 1968 was nominated as the Mayor of The Hague, taking office on 16 October 1968. On 5 April 1975 Marijnen died after suffering a fatal heart attack at his home at the age of just 58.
Marijnen was known for his abilities as a skilful manager and effective consensus builder. During his premiership, his cabinet was responsible for several major reforms to health insurance, the public broadcasting system and dealing with the fallout of the marriage between Princess Irene and carlistCarlos Hugo of Bourbon-Parma. He holds the distinction as the last Prime Minister to have served as Mayor and his premiership is consistently regarded both by scholars and the public to have been below average.[2][3][4]
In 1949 Marijnen became secretary of the Agricultural Society and in 1951 Secretary-General of the Foreign Agricultural Trade Department of the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality. From 1957 he was secretary of the General Catholic Employers Association and the Catholic Federation of Employers Associations.
Accusations regarding priests
In 1956 Marijnen was chairman of a children's home in Gelderland where children, including Henk Heithuis, were sexually abused by priests. According to the Telegraph newspaper, reporting in March 2012, he "intervened to have prison sentences dropped against several priests convicted of abusing children."[5] The Dutch Catholic Church organised the castration of Heithuis while he lived at the Gelderland children's home in 1956 after he reported being sexually abused to the police.[5]
The natural gas reserves, recently found in Slochteren were a considerable boost for the economy. This, combined with labour shortage led to a rise in wages and the attraction of foreign workers. Despite this being the second cabinet without socialist Labour Party, the building up of a welfare state, that was started after World War II, continued with the introduction of minimum wages in 1964 and the national health service. In 1965, measures were taken against commercial television stations transmitting from the North Sea. The cabinet finally fell over the issue if commercial TV should be allowed in the Netherlands.
From 1965 to 1966 Marijnen was a member of the House of Representatives and concurrently chairman of the Board of the Rijnmond Authority. In 1967 he was also appointed chairman of the Post and Telecommunications Council. On 16 October 1968 he was selected Mayor of The Hague.
Marijnen died on 5 April 1975 in The Hague, while serving as Mayor from a heart attack at the age of 58.
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