Liberal Rob Jetten edges ahead of rightwing populist in race to form next government with 2% of votes still to count
Geert Wilders is almost certain to be shut out of the next Dutch government after a knife-edge general election in which support for his far-right Freedom party (PVV) slumped and the liberal-progressive D66 party made spectacular gains.
With more than 98% of votes counted from Wednesday’s election, the two parties were neck-and-neck on a projected 26 seats each in the Netherlands’ 150-seat parliament, with the difference between them only a couple of thousand votes.
“We’ve shown not only to the Netherlands, but also to the world that it is possible to beat populist and extreme-right movements,” D66’s 38-year-old leader, Rob Jetten, told supporters.
The outcome was a big setback for Wilders, however, whose PVV won 37 seats in 2023 then led a splintered and unproductive rightwing coalition that lasted less than a year before he brought it down in a row over his draconian immigration plans.
