GEERT WILDERS’S far-right Party for Freedom (PVV) remained neck and neck with the liberal D66 as final ballots were counted in the Netherlands this evening.

D66 had a narrow lead of around 15,000 votes as the Morning Star went to press but this could be overturned overnight. However it seemed likely both would tie on 26 seats each in the Dutch parliament — a massive increase for D66 but a setback for the PVV, which had been the biggest in the chamber on 37.

So close is the race that the meeting to appoint a “scout” charged with starting talks on forming the next coalition government — no Dutch party has held a majority in the 150-seat House of Representatives since its current proportional representation voting system was introduced in 1917 — has been postponed from today to next Tuesday.

The party with most votes could be considered to have the right to try to form a government first, though currently other Dutch parties are saying they would not enter a coalition with the PVV. It was included in a governing coalition after it came first in the 2023 election, but that broke down after less than a year when it walked out demanding greater crackdowns on immigration.

D66 leader Rob Jetten said that the party’s success (slightly under 17 per cent of the vote) showed that the “centre can hold” and defeat the far right.

His policies include building 10 new Dutch cities. He has committed to maintain the previous government’s rearmament drive in line with US President Donald Trump’s order that European countries increase military spending.