The result means Jetten is in pole position to piece together a coalition — a right typically reserved for the largest party — and to become the Netherlands’ prime minister if he succeeds.
D66 and the PVV finished ahead of the center-right liberals of the People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), which won 22 seats in Wednesday’s vote; the left-wing GreenLeft-Labor alliance, which secured 20 seats; and the center-right Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA), which collected 18. Conservative JA21 is the largest of the smaller parties, with nine seats.
Jetten has already made clear he sees the need for a broad coalition, as D66 is a “small large party” by Dutch standards, though caretaker Prime Minister Dick Schoof said Friday that the process won’t be quick.
Forging a coalition could become tricky if it involves convincing the center-right VVD and the left-wing GreenLeft-Labor alliance to join the same government, after they bitterly campaigned against one another.
Jetten said he hopes to form a “stable Cabinet,” and that a coalition in which D66 would be the most left-wing party is not his preference. “I think voters have made it clear that working together in the center is really the message behind this result,” he added.
He called on VVD leader Dilan Yeşilgöz, who’s repeatedly rejected a coalition with GreenLeft-Labor, to “reflect” on that. “Voters want us to stop playing political games and really buckle down together,” he said.
