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Centrist-liberal Rob Jetten and far-right populist Geert Wilders are running neck-and-neck in the Dutch election, with both parties heading for 26 seats in the 150-member parliament. Dutch news agency ANP projected the tie on Thursday with 98% of votes counted. Jetten’s D66 held a razor-thin lead of just 3,500 votes over Wilders’ Freedom Party. Early exit polls had put Jetten ahead. He told cheering supporters that millions had rejected negative politics and turned the page. Wilders admitted the result disappointed him after losing 11 seats, though he claimed his second-best performance ever. Three other parties trailed close behind – the conservative liberal VVD on 22 seats, the left-wing GreenLeft-Labour alliance, and the Christian Democrats. Wilders led opinion polls throughout the campaign but torpedoed his own chances when he collapsed his coalition government in June over a row about asylum and migration. Mainstream party leaders ruled out working with him again. Writing on X on Thursday, Wilders said he should get first crack at forming a government if his party topped the final count. But even without an outright win, Jetten – who ran a remarkable campaign – stands the better chance of leading the next administration. Polls put D66 on just 12 seats a few weeks ago. The 38-year-old Jetten turned things around with strong TV debate performances and appearances on a quiz show called The Smartest Person, which boosted his profile. He avoided claiming victory on Wednesday night despite the celebratory atmosphere among supporters. Third-placed Dilan Yesilgöz’s conservative VVD would fit well in a Jetten-led coalition. Voters knew going into Wednesday’s poll that five parties could win in a knife-edge race. Wilders won 37 seats in November 2023, but many of those voters appear to have abandoned him after realising he would struggle to find coalition partners. He spent seven months negotiating a coalition deal in 2024, then brought down the government 11 months later. Jetten said he wanted a broad, stable coalition and noted no winning party had ever taken fewer than 30 seats. He named former European Commissioner Frans Timmermans’ Labour-GreenLeft alliance as a potential partner, along with Yesilgöz’s conservatives and the revived Christian Democrats. The exit polls brought bad news for Timmermans, whose left-wing bloc had run second in polls but now faces fourth place. He told supporters better times lay ahead but said he felt hugely disappointed. He announced he would step down and take responsibility for the result. Both Timmermans and Wilders are in their early 60s and entered politics at the same time. Dutch voters appear ready to try something new. But Wilders said he was going nowhere and planned to stay in politics until 80. He insisted the result could have been worse – he still achieved his second-best performance. University of Amsterdam professor Matthijs Rooduijn said Wilders lost both moderate and radical voters to other parties. But the losses could have been heavier given that Wilders himself broke up the coalition and campaigned less actively than rivals. D66 supporters packed a music venue in Leiden, the university city between Amsterdam and The Hague. They chanted “yes, we can” as exit polls confirmed Jetten’s strong showing. Taking the stage, the man now tipped to become the youngest Dutch prime minister in modern history told supporters they had achieved D66’s best-ever result. He said he felt heavy responsibility for the millions who voted for other parties. His government would show all Dutch people that politics could work for them again and help the Netherlands move forward. The campaign focused partly on migration and overcrowded asylum centres, but voters cared most about the housing crisis – a shortage of almost 400,000 homes in a country of 18 million. D66 pledged to build 10 new cities to tackle the problem. Supporter Eline said the optimistic campaign showed Dutch voters were tired of two years of gridlock. People wanted a prime minister who could unite the country and tackle major challenges. The Christian Democrats offer another potential coalition partner. Two years ago the party looked finished with just a handful of seats. Now it is projected to win 18. Leader Henri Bontenbal told chanting supporters the result was fantastic and two years ago they would not have dared dream of it. (Source: BBC)
