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Pechtold semi-retired from national politics and became active in the public sector and occupied numerous seats as a corporate director and nonprofit director on several boards of directors and supervisory boards and served on several state commissions and councils on behalf of the government (Art and Heritage Commission and the Binnenhof Renovation Commission). In October 2019 Pechtold was appointed as Director-General of the Driving License and Certificates Agency (CBR) of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management, serving since 1 November 2019.

On October 6, 2018, Pechtold announced his resignation as D66 leader and from the parliament. As chairman of the parliamentary party, Pechtold was succeeded by Rob Jetten on 9 October.

In December 2017, it was revealed that Pechtold received an apartment valued at 135,000 euros from Serge Marcoux, a former Canadian ambassador, that was not listed on the gift register of the House of Representatives, with Pechtold justifying the lack of report by saying that he knew Marcoux from outside politics and that the apartment was a private gift which did not fall under the purview of the register.

After the shootdown of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 in July 2014, Pechtold explicitly voiced his support for economic expediency over ethical correctness by stating: "We are a small country, dependent on our exports, and unlike the United States, we cannot always react from our moral high grounds."

During the Fourth Balkenende cabinet administration Pechtold served as government opposition leader. After the Dutch elections of 2010, the D66 won seven-seats in the House of Representatives which journalists claimed was due to Pechtolds leadership during the Fourth Balkenende cabinet time. After the 2010 Dutch cabinet formation the D66 again remained in opposition. In 2012, Pechtold published Henk, Ingrid, & Alexander, which ostensibly aimed to break through the populism that has dominated Dutch politics in the previous decade, "Henk" and "Ingrid" being the generic names proposed by Geert Wilders and other Party for Freedom politicians to represent the average Dutch couple, by engaging everyday people in conversation. The book was panned in de Volkskrant as a "cheap PR-stunt without any value to it."

During a debate with Mark Rutte in 2010, Pechtold championed the cause of social liberalism, noting that the government “needs to offer services where fairness is more important than efficiency, such as education and healthcare," while accusing Rutte of pursuing policies that hurt the most vulnerable in Dutch society.

In 2007 the parliamentarian press chose Pechtold with 31% of the votes as the "Dutch politician of the year 2007".

On 29 June 2006 the D66 retracted its support for the Second Balkenende cabinet. The next day, Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende offered the resignation of the full cabinet to Queen Beatrix. Pechtold resigned as Minister for Government Reform and Kingdom Relations on 3 July 2006. His fellow D66 cabinet member Laurens Jan Brinkhorst, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economic Affairs, resigned on 7 July 2006.

Pechtold was elected the Leader of the D66 on 24 June 2006 in the leadership election of 2006, defeating Lousewies van der Laan, the party's Parliamentary leader in the House of Representatives. Van der Laan had only a few months earlier succeeded Boris Dittrich, who had resigned as party leader and parliamentary leader in the House of Representatives on 3 February 2006.

For the Dutch general election of 2006 Pechtold became lijsttrekker (top candidate) and the Democrats 66 lost three seats and became an opposition party. For the Dutch general election of 2010, Pechtold again as Lijsttrekker won ten seats but the Democrats 66 remained an opposition party. With the following Dutch general election of 2012, Pechtold again as lijsttrekker won two seats with the Democrats 66 again remaining an opposition party.

Pechtold was appointed as Minister for Government Reform and Kingdom Relations in the Cabinet Balkenende II following the resignation of Thom de Graaf, taking office on 31 March 2005. After the Leader of the Democrats 66 and Parliamentary leader of the Democrats 66 in the House of Representatives Boris Dittrich announced that he was stepping down as Leader and Parliamentary leader in the House of Representatives after the Cabinet Balkenende II had decided to participate in the Task Force Urozgan mission of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan, Pechtold announced his candidacy to succeed him. Pechtold won the leadership election defeating incumbent Parliamentary leader Lousewies van der Laan and was elected as Leader, taking office on 24 June 2006. The Cabinet Balkenende II fell on 30 June 2006 after the Democrats 66 had lost confidence in the functioning of Minister of Integration and Asylum Affairs Rita Verdonk and continued to serve in a demissionary capacity until the Democrats 66 cabinet members resigned on 3 July 2006. For the election of 2006 Pechtold served as Lijsttrekker (top candidate). The Democrats 66 suffered a loss, losing 3 seats and now had 3 seats in the House of Representatives. Pechtold was subsequently elected as a Member of the House of Representatives and as Parliamentary leader in the House of Representatives, taking office on 30 November 2006. For the Dutch general election of 2010 Pechtold served again as Lijsttrekker. The Democrats 66 made a large win, gaining 7 seats and now had 10 in the House of Representatives. For the Dutch general election of 2012 Pechtold again served again as Lijsttrekker. The Democrats 66 made another win, gaining 2 seats and now had 12 in the House of Representatives. For the Dutch general election of 2017 Pechtold served for the fourth and last time as Lijsttrekker. The Democrats 66 made a large win, gaining 7 seats and now had 19 in the House of Representatives. The following cabinet formation of 2017 resulted in a coalition agreement between the Democrats 66, the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) and the Christian Union (CU) which formed the Cabinet Rutte III with Pechtold opting to remain in the House of Representatives instead of accepting a cabinet post in the new cabinet and continued to serve in the House of Representatives as Parliamentary leader. On 6 October 2018 Pechtold unexpectedly announced his retirement from national politics and that he was stepping down as Leader and Parliamentary leader Leader and that he wouldn't stand for the Next Dutch general election, he resigned as a Member of the House of Representatives and Parliamentary leader on 10 October 2018.

Thom de Graaf, the D66 Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Government Reform and Kingdom Relations in the Second Balkenende cabinet, resigned on 23 March 2005 after the introduction of democratically elected mayors had been rejected in the Senate. The proposal was especially important; it had become a symbol of the government reform that the D66 had wanted since the party's creation. Pechtold was asked to succeed him as Minister. Pechtold resigned as Chairman and Mayor the same day that he took office as the new Minister for Government Reform and Kingdom Relations, on 31 March 2005.

On 1 October 2003, Pechtold was appointed Mayor of Wageningen; he remained Chairman of the D66.

Pechtold attended the Rotterdamsch Gymnasium from March 1978 until April 1984 and applied at the Leiden University in May 1990 majoring in archaeology and the history of art in the Dutch Golden Age of painting and obtaining an Bachelor of Arts degree in June 1992 before graduating with an Master of Arts degree in July 1996. Pechtold worked as an auctioneer at Stockum's Auctions in The Hague from July 1992 until June 1996. Pechtold served on the Municipal Council of Leiden from May 1994 until June 1996 and served as an Alderman in Leiden from June 1996 until October 2003. Pechtold served as Chairman of the Democrats 66 from 16 November 2002 until 31 March 2005. In September 2003 Pechtold was nominated as Mayor of Wageningen, taking office on 1 October 2003.

Pechtold became a member of the Democrats 66 (D66) party in 1989. He was elected as a Municipal councillor in Leiden in 1994, and became an alderman in 1996. On 16 November 2002 he was elected as Chairman of the D66. Pechtold was tasked with reforming the party after its disastrous results in the general election of 2002, and preparing for the upcoming election of 2003.

Alexander Pechtold (born 16 December 1965) is a retired Dutch politician of the Democrats 66 (D66) party and art historian.

Alexander Pechtold was born on 16 December 1965 in Delft in the Dutch province of South Holland. Pechtold and his elder brother Roland Pechtold grew up in the village of Rhoon. He went to a Lyceum in Rotterdam. Pechtold studied art history and archaeology with a specialization in 17th-century painting at the Leiden University, obtaining a Bachelor of Arts and a Master of Arts degree in 1996. During that time Pechtold obtained certification as an auctioneer, and worked for the Van Stockum's Veilingen during his studies.