paul kirbyEuropean Digital Editor
Polling analysis shows that he is hard to beat against anti-Islam populist Geert Wilders.
Jetten’s D66 currently holds a narrow lead of 15,000 votes over Wilders’ Liberal Party, and Dutch news agency ANP said Wilders could no longer win, even though the vote tally has not been completed.
With nearly 99% of the vote, the two parties are expected to win 26 seats in the 150-seat parliament. But the ANP said Jetten’s centrists could win 27 seats.
A victory means Jetten can begin work on forming a coalition.
Wilders led the polls for Wednesday’s election, but Rob Jetten, 38, succeeded in winning some major Dutch cities, including Rotterdam, The Hague and Utrecht, with a positive campaign that used the catchphrase “Yes, we can”.
He was careful not to declare victory until all votes had been cast, but the ANP said he could now be declared the winner based on figures from postal voters.
Although forming a coalition will not be easy, he is likely to become the youngest prime minister in modern Dutch history.
