Amsterdam
Reuters
—
ANP news agency reported on Friday that the Dutch centrist party D66 won the most votes in Wednesday’s general election, putting its 38-year-old leader Rob Jetten on track to become the youngest prime minister in Dutch history.
The news agency, which compiles results from municipalities across the Netherlands, said almost all votes had been counted and D66 could no longer be overtaken by Geert Wilders’ far-right Freedom Party (PVV).
D66 is now expected to take the lead in the first round of talks to form a coalition government, a process that typically takes several months.
The party, which won about 18% of the vote, would need at least three coalition partners to reach a simple majority in the 150-member House of Commons.
The pro-EU, liberal D66 tripled its number of seats with a bright campaign and a surge in advertising spending, while Mr Wilders lost much of the support that gave him a shock victory in the last vote in 2023.
Still, while preliminary results showed a narrow victory for D66, the election took a toll as PVV briefly took the lead in the final stages of vote counting.
All mainstream parties have already ruled out working with him, but Mr Wilders had said he would seek an initial effort to form a coalition government if his party was confirmed to have the most votes.
The results will be confirmed on Monday, when postal votes cast by Dutch citizens living abroad will be counted.
Party leaders are scheduled to discuss next steps on Tuesday.
This story has been updated with additional developments.
