The Dutch election has culminated in an unprecedented cliffhanger, with only a few thousand votes separating the far-right party of Geert Wilders and a pro-European centrist party. With 99.7% of the vote tallied, the anti-Islam PVV Freedom Party run by Wilders was fractionally ahead of the D66 led by Rob Jetten. However, every major party has ruled out working with Wilders, meaning Jetten is on track to become the country’s youngest and first openly gay prime minister – even if he comes second.
The election result was a “very strong message from Dutch voters that they want positive political powers in the center to work together,” Jetten told reporters. With 98.9% of the votes counted, D66 led PVV by 15,000 votes, but both parties are projected to take 26 seats in the 150-seat lower house of parliament. This is a sharp drop for Wilders’ party, which lost over a quarter of its seats in two years, stemming from a poor performance in its first attempt at government and growing competition on the right.
Despite Wilders’ losses, the far-right remains a significant part of the European political landscape. Other far-right candidates have made gains, showing that parties based on anti-immigration platforms remain enduring. The main issues in the election were immigration and a housing crisis, especially affecting young people in the densely populated country.
