Centrist Rob Jetten could become Netherlands' youngest and first openly gay prime minister

By Stephanie van den Berg

THE HAGUE (Reuters) -Dutch centrist party leader Rob Jetten, 38, revamped his image on the campaign trail from nagging climate minister to optimistic "yes, we can" politician. He is now poised to be the youngest and first openly gay prime minister in the Netherlands' history after his party's strong performance in Wednesday's election.

With polished messaging and a surge in advertising spending, Jetten moved beyond his D66 party's traditional social liberal themes of climate change and education, plunging into the divisive topics of immigration and a housing crisis. In the process he won over some voters who had previously looked to right-wing parties.

Jetten accused far-right leader Geert Wilders of "hijacking" Dutch identity and lambasted him for only standing up for women's and LGBTQ rights to cast Muslims in a poor light.

Sticking to his upbeat approach, Jetten posted a message on Instagram on election morning saying it was time for positive forces to win. "Together we can beat Wilders, I am ready," he said.

With his party on course to win the most votes, Jetten looks set to get the first crack at cobbling together a coalition in which he would be prime minister.

"Rob is without a doubt one of the most talented politicians the Netherlands has ever had," said Kajsa Ollongren, a D66 party member who served as defence minister in government with Jetten. "I’m sure that if we win as the exit polls say we do, he’ll want to unite the country and turn around the negative spiral that Wilders has pushed the country in."

Jetten would be the Netherlands' first openly gay leader, although his sexuality has not played an important part in the campaign. The Netherlands is known for its strong protections of LGBTQ rights and his party was in power when the Netherlands became the first country to legalise same-sex marriage 25 years ago.

His "bromance" with another Dutch politician went viral on TikTok in 2021. That social media trend led Jetten to meet his current fiancé, Argentinian international hockey player Nicolas Keenan, who he is due to marry next August. Jetten says they met at a supermarket and Keenan recognised him from the TikTok video compilations.

Jetten, who speaks Dutch with a slight southern accent that reveals his regional roots, stood out with a more conciliatory message of political rivals working together on divisive issues. He stressed that parties should cooperate and slammed Wilders for negativity and scaremongering.

To combat illegal immigration and discourage dangerous migrant journeys, Jetten has proposed asylum applications to the Netherlands be submitted from outside the EU, alongside increased spending on integration programs.

Government policy would be aimed at ensuring "people that really are fleeing from war and violence are received in a decent way, learn the language and can participate (in society) and that the rotten apples are pulled out of the system and are deported," he said.

A backer of European integration and climate policies, D66 is hated by many on the far right, who see it as a party serving a progressive elite. Windows of its headquarters were recently smashed during a violent, anti-migration protest in The Hague. Images of Jetten condemning political extremism as he was interviewed standing in broken glass outside his party's offices helped boost his profile.

Jetten also profited from the fact that his successful stint as a candidate on a popular trivia quiz show, for which he was recruited before the election was called, was broadcast over several days during the campaign.

To address an acute housing shortage which is the biggest worry for many voters, Jetten proposed the building of ten new towns, with the government contributing 2 billion euros annually to boost housing in the short term.

He has also suggested cutting red tape to enable the construction of 100,000 new homes each year by redesignating larger buildings and agricultural land.

(Reporting by Stephanie van den Berg and Anthony Deutsch; Editing by Toby Chopra)