Dutch centrist party D66 won the most votes in Wednesday’s general election, news agency ANP said on Friday, putting its 38-year-old leader Rob Jetten on course to become the youngest-ever prime minister in the Netherlands.
With almost all votes counted, D66 can no longer be overtaken by the far-right Freedom Party (PVV) led by Geert Wilders, according to the news agency, which collects the results from all municipalities in the Netherlands.
D66 is now expected to take the lead in a first round of talks to form a coalition government, a process which usually takes months.
With around 18% of the votes, the party will need at least three coalition partners to reach a simple majority in the 150-seat Lower House of Parliament.
The pro-EU, liberal D66 tripled its seat count with an upbeat campaign and a surge in advertising spending, while Wilders lost a large part of the support that had propelled him to a shock victory at the previous poll in 2023.
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