D66 leader Rob Jetten celebrates unity, optimism; Election win means he could become Dutch PM

Rob Jetten was brimming with positivity when he delivered a victory speech to his campaign staff and colleagues at the D66 party in Leiden. The 38-year-old leader of the centrist political faction said the exit poll results after Wednesday's election made it clear that Dutch voters were fed up with division and hatred in national politics.

"Today, we achieved D66's best result ever, and we may well be the largest party in the country," Jetten said, noting that it could take some time for all the votes to be counted. "One thing is quite certain. Millions of Dutch people have turned a page today. They have turned the page on negativity, hatred, and the notion of 'it can't be done,'" he said enthusiastically.

His party was projected to take 27 of the 150 seats in the Tweede Kamer, the lower house of Parliament. The result would triple the party's influence in the Tweede Kamer, and would push D66 into a position to be the largest party, while far-right party PVV dropped from 37 seats down to 25 MPs, according to exit polls from Ipsos I&O.

While the two parties were within the margin of error, it puts Jetten in a position to get the first attempt to form a coalition and potentially become the next prime minister. The major parties winning seats in the election already indicated they would not work with PVV leader Geert Wilders. Exit polling showed a plurality of 15 percent of voters want Jetten as the next prime minister, followed by 13 percent who support CDA leader Henri Bontenbal, 12 percent who back Wilders, and 10 percent who like Frans Timmermans, who stepped down as GroenLinks-Pvda leader after a poor showing in the election.

"Millions of people have chosen the positive forces that will help us look forward together again," he said to the cheering crowd. He asked for political leaders to rise up in a positive manner, and to show their "faith" in the Dutch voters by standing behind "political leadership from the political center."

He called on them to reject negativity, and to also "turn the page" on people like Wilders. He also acknowledged that millions of people voted for other parties as well. Jetten said he felt a deep responsibility for them, and wants to represent not only D66 voters "but all Dutch people."

Survey data from Ipsos I&O showed that 41 percent of voters want D66 to be in the Cabinet, and 40 percent would also like to see the center-right Christian party CDA in a coalition. About a third want the right-wing VVD to join its sixth successive coalition government.

Roughly 27 percent would be comfortable with the PVV in another Cabinet, after Wilders abruptly pulled his party out of the current government. Also, only about 27 percent want left-wing faction GroenLinks-PvdA in the coalition. Party leader Frans Timmermans resigned on Wednesday after the exit poll showed his party would likely wind up with 20 seats in the Tweede Kamer, down from 25.

When narrowed down specifically to D66 voters, about 56 percent want to work with the CDA, and 51 percent see a collaboration with GroenLinks-PvdA as having potential. About 32 percent are open to collaborate with the VVD, and 16 percent would like to work with pro-Europe centrist party Volt.