During the 2006–2007 Dutch cabinet formation, Tichelaar was secondant of Wouter Bos during the confidential negotiations. He was unexpectedly chosen over MPs like Nebahat Albayrak, the PvdA's second candidate on the list, because of his experience with negotiations from his union years. Since Tichelaar had also had many conversations with CDA leader Maxime Verhagen about the reasons why the 2003 information talks between the two parties had failed, he was expected to understand the CDA party best among PvdA MPs. Van secondant tot kroonprins: Jacques Tichelaar , Buitenhof, 11 February 2007
