Rob Jetten is a Dutch liberal politician, leader of the D66 party, who at 38 would be the Netherlands' youngest prime minister ever and its first openly gay one. He served in the last cabinet of Mark Rutte, the former prime minister who now leads NATO.
In the October 2025 election, Mr Jetten ran an enthusiastic flag-waving campaign under the slogan Het kan wel (roughly "Yes we can"), casting the contest as a choice between "positive forces" and Mr Wilders's "bitterness and hatred." D66 tied the PVV for first place with 16.7% of the vote and 26 seats—up from just nine in the previous parliament. Every major party ruled out co-operating with Wilders again, making Mr Jetten the probable next prime minister.
A young, cosmopolitan liberal from a pro-European party, Mr Jetten might have been expected to flaunt the EU emblem. Instead he made his October 29th victory speech in front of an oversize national banner, aiming to "reclaim" the Dutch flag from the populist right. The subtext: progressives need not leave patriotism to the demagogic fringes.
Forming a coalition will be tricky. Fifteen parties made it into parliament. His natural partners would be the CDA, GreenLeft-Labour and the VVD, but VVD leader Dilan Yesilgöz has ruled out a coalition with GreenLeft-Labour. Mr Jetten has not ruled out JA21, a smaller hard-right party that leapt from one seat to nine, though he would need one more party for a majority.
The opossum is a very sophisticated animal. It doesn't even get up until 5 or 6 PM.