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D'66

Democrats 66
Democraten 66
Abbreviation D66
Leader Alexander Pechtold
Chairman Letty Demmers
Leader in the Senate Thom de Graaf
Leader in the House of Representatives Alexander Pechtold
Leader in the European Parliament Sophie in 't Veld
Founder Hans van Mierlo
Hans Gruijters
Founded 14 October 1966
Headquarters Partijbureau D66
Hoge Nieuwstraat 30
The Hague
Youth wing Young Democrats
Membership  (2017) 26,285
Ideology Social liberalism
Progressivism
Pro-Europeanism
Political position Centre
Economic: Centre-right
Social: Centre-left
European affiliation Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe
International affiliation Liberal International
European Parliament group Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe
Colours Green
House of Representatives
12 / 150
Senate
10 / 75
King's Commissioners
1 / 12
States-Provincial
67 / 570
European Parliament
4 / 26
Website
www.d66.nl

Democrats 66 (Dutch: Democraten 66, D66; official name: Politieke Partij Democraten 66) (Dutch pronunciation: [pouliˈtikə pɑrtɛi deimouˈkraːtə(n) zɛsə(n)ˈzɛstəx] or Dutch pronunciation: [dei zɛsə(n)ˈzɛstəx]) is a social-liberal and progressivepolitical party in the Netherlands.

D66 was formed in 1966 by a group of politically unaligned young intellectuals, led by journalist Hans van Mierlo. The party's main objective was to democratise the political system; it proposed to create an American-style presidential system. In the 1967 general election the party won 7 of the 150 seats in the House of Representatives; no new party had ever gained that many seats before. The electoral history of the party is characterised by large fluctuations. At one point they had 24 seats, currently (following the September 2012 Parliamentary elections) they have 12. The party was in government from 1973 to 1977, 1981 to 1982, 1994 to 2002 and 2003 to 2006. Over time the party began to emphasise other issues in addition to democratic reform, creating a social-liberal programme.

In addition to its twelve seats in the House of Representatives, it holds ten in the Senate and four in the European Parliament. The party leader and Parliamentary leader is Alexander Pechtold. The party is in opposition against the Second Rutte cabinet. The party has a growing number of elected local and provincial politicians and supplies a relatively large proportion of mayors, who are appointed. The party's voters are concentrated in larger cities, especially among people who hold a university degree, and in towns with an above-average number of wealthy citizens.


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