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.
Still, the election turned into a nailbiter, as preliminary results indicated a narrow victory for D66, while the PVV briefly pulled ahead towards the end of the count.
Although all mainstream parties had already ruled out working with him, Wilders had said he would demand to have a first crack at forming a coalition if his party was confirmed to have the most votes.
Confirmation of the result will come on Monday, when mail ballots cast by Dutch residents living abroad are counted.
Party leaders will discuss the next steps on Tuesday.
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