The Netherlands’ centrist Democrats 66 (D66) party scored a major victory in Wednesday’s national election, emerging as the biggest winner as far-right leader Geert Wilders’ Freedom Party (PVV) suffered significant losses.
With 90% of votes counted early Thursday, both D66 and the PVV were projected to secure 26 seats each in the 150-member lower house of parliament.
However, D66 nearly tripled its previous tally, making the strongest gains of any party and positioning its leader, Rob Jetten, to lead government formation and potentially become the country’s youngest-ever prime minister.
The result marks a steep decline for Wilders, whose PVV had achieved a record result in the 2023 election but lost ground amid growing voter fatigue with his populist message. Exit polls initially pointed to a narrow D66 lead, later confirmed as results trickled in overnight.
Wilders acknowledged disappointment at his party’s losses, admitting he would likely not be part of the next government.
“Of course we would have liked to win more seats and I regret the loss, but it’s not as if we were wiped off the map,” he told supporters, vowing to continue his political fight from the opposition benches.
At D66 headquarters in The Hague, jubilant supporters waved Dutch flags and chanted “Yes, we can” as Jetten hailed the outcome as a victory over extremism.
“We’ve shown not only to the Netherlands but also to the world that it is possible to beat populist and extreme-right movements,” he declared. “Millions of Dutch people today turned a page and said farewell to the politics of hate and division.”
The 38-year-old Jetten’s popularity surged in the campaign’s final weeks, driven by pledges to tackle the housing crisis, strengthen education, and balance immigration reform with compassion.
Wilders, one of Europe’s longest-serving populist leaders known for his anti-Islam rhetoric, had proposed policies such as banning asylum seekers, sending male Ukrainian refugees home, and cutting foreign aid, positions that alienated potential coalition partners.
His decision to collapse his previous coalition government in June over immigration disputes further eroded confidence among right-wing allies.
Forming a new coalition will be complex: with 76 seats required for a majority, D66 will likely need support from at least three other parties, including the centre-right VVD, the Christian Democrats, and the Greens-Labour alliance.
Analysts expect coalition talks to stretch for months as parties negotiate policy priorities.
The Dutch vote was widely viewed as a test of the far right’s staying power in Europe.
The results suggest that while populist sentiment remains strong, its momentum may be slowing, at least for now, in one of the continent’s most politically fragmented democracies.
Source: Reuters
Written By Rodney Mbua
