Dutch far right loses ground, opening door for centrist coalition talks

The Netherlands’ next government looks likely to exclude the far right and could be led by a gay prime minister after an election in which Geert Wilders’ anti-Islam Freedom Party lost ground and support surged for the centrist D66.

With 98% of votes counted from Wednesday’s election, D66 and Wilders’ PVV were tied early on Thursday, with both projected to take 26 seats in the 150-seat lower house of parliament.

All major mainstream parties have ruled out governing with Wilders after he brought down the last coalition, which was led by his own party. This leaves him no viable path to a majority.

Cheers and chants of “Yes, we can” broke out at the D66’s election-night celebration as a crowd waved Dutch flags.

“We’ve shown not only to the Netherlands, but also to the world that it is possible to beat populist and extreme-right movements,” D66 leader Rob Jetten told the crowd.