Liberal D66 party set to win Dutch parliamentary elections, exit poll suggests

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The liberal D66 party is expected to win parliamentary elections in the Netherlands, pushing the far-right Freedom Party into second place, according to a voter poll published on Wednesday evening.

The D66 party is expected to win 27 seats, while the Freedom Party will win 25 seats and the center-right VVD party will win 23 seats, according to the poll published by Ipsos.

The joint Socialists-Greens list was expected to win 20 seats, while the center-right Christian Democrats would win 19 seats. There are 150 seats in the lower house of the Dutch parliament.

A poll of voters leaving the polls indicates that the Netherlands is returning to the political center after the collapse of the coalition government led by the Freedom Party in June.

Former Energy Minister Rob Gitten led the D66 campaign, and opinion polls in recent days have indicated an increase in support for the party.

If D66 becomes the largest party, it will fall to Çiten to find enough partners to form a new coalition government.

The expected election results will be a major setback for the Freedom Party, led by anti-Islam leader Geert Wilders.

Gitten said his expected victory was “historic” because “we have shown not only the Netherlands but also the world that it is possible to overcome populist and far-right movements, and I am very keen to work with other parties to start a coalition as soon as possible.”

This coalition must obtain more than 75 seats in the House of Representatives, and talks on forming the government are expected to continue for several weeks or months.

The pro-EU Gitten, whose political style is sometimes compared to former Prime Minister and current NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, has continued a rising campaign to restore the Netherlands’ fortunes.

Jetten’s Barack Obama-esque campaign slogan is “It He is Possible” runs counter to the widespread pessimistic mood in the country.

Wilders said on the

Frans Timmermans, the former European Commissioner who led the socialist campaign, announced that he would resign as party leader.

“We did not succeed in convincing enough people to give us their votes,” Timmermans said. “I take full responsibility for that.”

When the Freedom Party won the country’s last parliamentary elections in 2023, Wilders had to abandon his ambitions to become prime minister in order to form a coalition.

Wilders proposed appointing Dick Schoof, a former intelligence chief with no political affiliation, as prime minister, but his government was riven by frequent disagreements and lasted only 11 months.

The expected result for the Freedom Party indicates that it will lose 12 seats compared to the number if it wins the 2023 elections.