Netherlands Elections: Centrist Jetten Declared Winner

(Patria) - Dutch centrist leader Rob Jetten has secured a narrow election victory over far-right MP Geert Wilders, achieving a historically small margin of 28,455 votes after all ballots were finally counted, AFP reported.

Jetten had already declared victory on Friday after the local news agency ANP, which counts and publishes results, stated that Wilders could not overcome the deficit.
The last ballots counted were postal votes from around 87,000 Dutch expatriates, with their votes counted in The Hague.

As expected, Dutch living abroad leaned more towards Jetten (16,049 votes) than Wilders (7,451), giving the 38-year-old an unassailable lead.
The Dutch Electoral Council will officially announce the results on Friday.

Wilders accused Jetten of arrogance for declaring victory before the official announcement, and also shared unsubstantiated claims of voting irregularities.

The Electoral Council will also explain in detail on Friday whether there were any issues on election day on Wednesday.

The result puts the charismatic Jetten on track to become the country's youngest and first openly gay prime minister.

But he faces a difficult task forming a coalition. The fragmented nature of Dutch politics means no single party wins enough seats in the 150-member parliament to form an absolute majority.

Jetten's D66 party is projected to win 26 seats, the same as the anti-Islam, anti-immigration Party for Freedom (PVV) led by Wilders.

The most viable option, and Jetten's preference, is a four-party coalition with the centre-right CDA (18 seats), the left-wing Green/Labour (20), and the right-wing VVD (22).

That coalition would have 86 seats for a solid majority, but there are doubts about whether Jetten can get the VVD and Green/Labour to work together.

The next step is today when Jetten appoints a so-called "scout" to see which parties are willing to cooperate with whom. Until a new coalition is formed, the government is led by Dick Schoof.

Coalition negotiations are expected to be long and arduous. Schoof said he is preparing to still be prime minister at Christmas.