Dutch Election Ends in Dead Heat as Centrist Jetten Challenges Populist Wilders
The Netherlands faces a political deadlock after a fiercely contested election, with centrist-liberal leader Rob Jetten and far-right populist Geert Wilders running neck and neck in the race for power.
According to early projections from the Dutch news agency ANP, both Jetten’s D66 and Wilders’ Freedom Party (PVV) are on track to secure 26 seats each in the 150-member parliament, with more than 90% of the votes counted by Thursday morning.
Initial exit polls had suggested that Jetten’s D66 was slightly ahead, leading him to tell jubilant supporters, “Millions of Dutch people have turned a page and said goodbye to a politics of negativity.”
Wilders, meanwhile, admitted disappointment at losing at least 10 seats but noted that his result still marked his second-best performance to date.
Trailing closely behind were the conservative-liberal VVD with 22 seats, followed by the GreenLeft–Labour alliance and the Christian Democrats, all maintaining a strong presence in the new parliament.