The centrist party D66 won the Dutch elections this Friday, October 31, according to projections by the local news agency ANP. The vote count indicates that the far-right leader of the PVV, Geert Wilders, failed to catch up with them.
“I am incredibly happy that we became the first party in this election. A historic result for D66. At the same time, I feel a great responsibility,” Rob Jetten told reporters.
At 38, D66 leader Rob Jetten is well positioned to become the youngest leader of the European Union’s fifth-largest economy, but long coalition negotiations await him.
15,000 votes ahead
The ANP projections were immediately picked up by several Dutch media outlets, including public broadcaster NOS.
With one more constituency and the votes of the Dutch abroad to count, Rob Jetten has a lead of 15,155 votes over Geert Wilders. Postal votes are already being counted in The Hague. Results won’t be announced until Monday night at the earliest.
Expats have always voted for more center and left-wing parties. During the last elections in 2023, the D66 led the PVV by almost 3,000 votes by mail.
“I will always be Prime Minister at Christmas”
On Tuesday, top politicians will meet in Parliament to elect a “scout”, who will sound out the parties to determine who is willing to work with whom. The leader of the party with the most votes chooses the scout and takes the initiative in the difficult process of forming a coalition, which will last several months.
Until then, Acting Premier Dick Schoof will remain in office. “I think I will still be Prime Minister at Christmas,” he said on Friday.
All parties excluded Geert Wilders, who torpedoed the last coalition by withdrawing from the PVV after a dispute over immigration.
If the election winner is confirmed, Rob Jetten will need to form a coalition of like-minded parties with a majority of at least 76 seats in the 150-member parliament.
A difficult coalition
To achieve this, it seems that it must form a kind of “grand coalition” with the CDA (18 seats), a center-right party, the VVD (22 seats), a liberal party, and the Greens/Labor group (20 seats), a left-wing party. D66 has 26 seats. However, doubts remain about the possibility of collaboration between the VVD and the Greens/Labor group.
VVD leader Dilan Yesilgöz said before the election that an alliance with the Greens/Labor group “would not work” and that he wanted a centre-right coalition. On Monday, the Greens/Labour group will elect a new leader following the resignation of former EU vice-president Frans Timmermans.
Dilan Yesilgöz and Frans Timmermans are known for their difficult relationships. Therefore, a new Greens/Labour leader could smooth the path to partnership.
Although Wilders saw his support decline, other far-right parties performed well. The Forum for Democracy (FvD), a nationalist party that wants to withdraw from the Schengen agreement on the free movement of people within the EU, more than doubled its score.
The party, considered extremist by Geert Wilders, will have seven deputies in the new parliament, compared to the previous three. The far-right JA21 party, which describes itself as a “liberal conservative party with a positive vision for the Netherlands”, also rose from one seat to nine.
Source: BFM TV
