Initial exit polls in the Dutch election showed the centrist D66 party coming in first, slightly ahead of Geert Wilders’ far-right Freedom Party, and opening a path for Rob Jetten to become the Netherlands’ youngest prime minister.
The Netherlands took to the polls on Wednesday in a tightly contested national election viewed as a major test for the far right’s strength across Europe.
The PVV faced fresh competition from the Christian Democrats under new leader Henri Bontenbal, who promised stability and “traditional values,” and from the centrist D66, led by Rob Jetten, who had gained ground with a message focused on housing and education.
The Netherlands’ fragmented system ensures no single party will reach the 76-seat threshold to govern alone, meaning lengthy coalition talks are almost inevitable — and the country’s political direction still hangs in the balance.
Wilders appeared to concede his party would not reach first place. “The voter has spoken. We had hoped for a different outcome but we stuck to our guns,” Wilders wrote on X, following the exit polls.
What was at stake in the Dutch election?
The vote was a major test for Dutch voters, to see if they would double down on Wilders’ anti-immigration platform or steer back toward the political center after two years of unstable conservative rule. His previous coalition collapsed in June when he withdrew support over disputes.
Polls suggested that and his PVV held a narrow lead over centrist rivals.
Wilders, who calls himself the “Dutch Trump,” had campaigned on denying all asylum applications — a move that would breach EU treaties — and redirecting development aid toward domestic spending. “People are fed up with mass immigration and the change of culture,” he told the AFP news agency ahead of the vote.
Ahead of the vote, Wilders’ chances of becoming prime minister appeared slim. All major parties, including the center-right People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) and conservative Christian Democrats, have ruled out governing with him.
Nearly half of Dutch voters remained undecided as the vote neared, surveys showed, underscoring widespread political volatility.
Why was the Netherlands voting now?
by withdrawing the PVV from a fragile four-party government after a dispute over immigration quotas and family reunification rules, a move that fractured the coalition and forced an early vote.
His performance in the European Union’s fifth-largest economy will be watched as a gauge of how far-right parties are reshaping European politics, with nationalist movements also topping polls in France, Germany, and Britain.
Edited by: Sean Sinico
The post Centrists lead far-right in Dutch election, exit polls show appeared first on Deutsche Welle.
