Editing Democrats 66 (section)

=== Pechtold leadership (2006–2016) ===
In February 2006, Dittrich stepped down as parliamentary leader, because he did not agree with the government's decision to send the Dutch armed forces to the southern province of [[Uruzgan]] in [[Afghanistan]]. D66 voted against the government's proposal together with the [[Socialist Party (Netherlands)|Socialist Party]] and [[GroenLinks]]. Dittrich stated that the mission to send troops was not a reconstruction mission (as the government and the majority of the Dutch parliament claimed), but a military operation. [[Lousewies van der Laan]] replaced Dittrich. In May 2006, D66 polled particularly badly in the [[2006 Dutch municipal elections|2006 municipal election]]s. D66 began to lose a considerable number of members, some of whom founded [[deZES]], another radical democratic, progressive liberal party. During a special party congress on 13 May 2006, a motion was put forth demanding the withdrawal of D66 from the cabinet, but it was rejected. In June 2006, an [[2006 Democrats 66 leadership election|internal election]] was held in order to choose the new party leader. The election was won by [[Alexander Pechtold]].

During the special parliamentary debate on the [[Naturalization|naturalisation process]] of [[Ayaan Hirsi Ali]], D66 supported a [[motion of no confidence]] against Minister for Integration [[Rita Verdonk]]. As D66 was a junior coalition partner, this caused a crisis in the [[Netherlands cabinet Balkenende-2|second Balkenende cabinet]]. The cabinet refused to remove Verdonk from her position. Lousewies van der Laan, parliamentary leader of D66, felt that the D66 faction could no longer support the cabinet and stated that the cabinet had to resign. On 3 July 2006, the two D66 ministers [[Alexander Pechtold]] and [[Laurens Jan Brinkhorst]] resigned, causing the [[second Balkenende cabinet]] to fall.

In October 2006, just before the D66 party congress and its 40th anniversary as a party, D66 founder [[Hans van Mierlo]] asked the question whether D66 still had political legitimacy. He believed that many errors were made in recent history and that only the acceptance of these errors could provide for any credibility for D66. Van Mierlo declared his support for party leader Pechtold, who in his view could provide for such credibility.<ref>{{cite news|title=Oprichter van Mierlo: heeft D66 nog zin?|publisher=[[Het Parool]]|date=2006-10-06}}</ref>

[[File:Portretfoto Sigrid Kaag 2018 01 (crop).jpg|thumb|right|185px|[[Sigrid Kaag]], leader from 2020 to 2023]]
Since 2008, the party has performed quite well in the [[opinion poll]]s, ranging from 10 to 26 seats, compared to only 3 seats in the House of Representatives.<ref>[https://n10.noties.nl/peil.nl/ Politieke Voorkeur sinds augustus 2008] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110724162442/https://n10.noties.nl/peil.nl/ |date=24 July 2011 }} on peil.nl</ref><ref>[http://www.politiekebarometer.nl/Polbarhistorie.htm Trends sinds de laatste tweede kamer verkiezing] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090714011154/http://www.politiekebarometer.nl/Polbarhistorie.htm |date=14 July 2009 }} on politieke barometer.nl</ref><ref>{{in lang|nl}} [https://n7.noties.nl/v/get.php?a=peil.nl&f=voorkeur.jpg&cache=0 "Politieke Voorkeur sinds Januari 2009,"] Peil.nl (24 January 2010) {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110724162545/https://n7.noties.nl/v/get.php?a=peil.nl&f=voorkeur.jpg&cache=0 |date=2011-07-24 }}</ref> In the [[2009 European Parliament election in the Netherlands|2009 European Parliament election]], the party won 11% of the votes and 3 seats, two more than in the previous election. The news programme [[Nova (Dutch TV series)|Nova]] attributed this increase to the leadership of Alexander Pechtold, who was considered "the leader of the opposition" at the time.<ref>{{in lang|nl}} [https://archive.today/20120905224659/http://www.novatv.nl/page/detail/uitzendingen/5975/'Alexander+Pechtold+is+d%E9+oppositieleider+van+dit+moment'  "Alexander Pechtold is dé oppositieleider van dit moment,"] Hanneke van der Werf and Nynke de Zoeten, ''Nova: Den Haag Vandaag'' (19 April 2008)</ref> Under the leadership of Pechtold, the party has taken strong stances against the [[Party for Freedom]] (PVV) of [[Geert Wilders]].<ref name="intermediair">{{in lang|nl}} Hugo Logtenberg, [http://www.intermediair.nl/artikel/branches-rijksoverheid/59710/alexander-pechtold-ik-heb-meer-dan-ooit-criticasters-nodig.html "Alexander Pechtold: Ik heb meer dan ooit criticasters nodig"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120223235443/http://www.intermediair.nl/artikel/branches-rijksoverheid/59710/alexander-pechtold-ik-heb-meer-dan-ooit-criticasters-nodig.html |date=23 February 2012 }} on ''intermediair.nl'' (2 April 2008)</ref> In the [[2010 Dutch general election|2010 general election]], D66 increased its representation to 10 seats. In the [[2012 Dutch general election|2012 general election]], the party further increased its number of seats to 12. Since 2008, the party has experienced a significant increase in party membership, from 10,000 to 25,000 in 2015.

In the [[2017 Dutch general election|2017 general election]], D66 won 19 seats in the House of Representatives and formed a centre-right [[coalition government]] with the VVD, CDA and [[Christian Union (Netherlands)|Christian Union]] (CU). [[Kajsa Ollongren]] was appointed second Deputy Prime Minister in the [[third Rutte cabinet]].