Rob Jetton’s Dutch centrist Liberal Party wins back-to-back election race, poll analysis shows

The Dutch centrist Liberal Party of Rob Yetten won the general election race on Wednesday, according to an analysis of the vote that showed it could not be defeated by the anti-Islam populist Geert Wilders.

Jetten’s D66 currently has a narrow 15,000-vote lead over Wilders’ Freedom Party, and Dutch news agency ANP says that although vote counting is not complete, Wilders can no longer win.

Forecasts of almost 99% of the vote put both parties in 26 seats in the 150-seat parliament – but the ANP says Jetten’s centrists could win 27th.

A victory would mean that Jetten would be able to begin work on forming a coalition.

Wilders was leading opinion polls ahead of Wednesday’s election, but Rob Jetten, 38, managed to win in some of the main Dutch cities, including Rotterdam, The Hague and Utrecht, with a positive campaign using the catchphrase “Yes, we can”.

He was careful not to declare victory until all the votes were over, but the ANP said based on data from postal voters that he could now be declared the winner.

Although his path to forming a coalition is not easy, he is expected to become the youngest prime minister in modern Dutch history.