Geert Wilders, a veteran anti-Islam populist leader, is expected to win a dramatic victory in the Dutch general election. His Freedom party (PVV) is projected to win 37 seats, well ahead of his nearest rival, a left-wing alliance. Wilders' victory has shaken Dutch politics, but he will have to persuade other parties to join him in a coalition. His target is 76 seats in the 150-seat parliament.
Before the vote, the three other big parties ruled out taking part in a Wilders-led government, but that might change. The left-wing alliance under ex-EU commissioner Frans Timmermans is set to come second with 25 seats, and he made clear he would have nothing to do with a Wilders-led government. He told supporters: "We won't let anyone in the Netherlands go. In the Netherlands everyone is equal."
The third-placed centre-right liberal VVD under new leader Dilan Yesilgöz, and a brand new party formed by whistleblower MP Pieter Omtzigt in fourth. Freedom party leader Wilders made a direct appeal to his political rivals to work together, and both Ms Yesilgöz and Mr. Omtzigt congratulated him on his success.
Mr. Wilders wants to hold a referendum to leave the EU, dubbed a "Nexit," although he recognizes there is no national mood to do so. He tempered his anti-Islam rhetoric in the run-up to the vote, saying there were more pressing issues at the moment and was prepared to put on hold his policies on banning mosques and Islamic schools.
In his victory speech, Wilders declared that Dutch voters had spoken and chosen "an agenda of hope". During the campaign, he took advantage of widespread dissatisfaction with the previous government, which collapsed in a disagreement over asylum rules. For political scientist Martin Rosema from the University of Twente, it was one of several gifts handed to Wilders on a plate in a matter of months. Another was that the centre-right liberal leader had opened the door to working with him in coalition.
Migration became one of the main themes, and Wilders made clear on Wednesday he intended to tackle a "tsunami of asylum and immigration". Last year net migration into the Netherlands more than doubled beyond 220,000, partly because of refugees fleeing Russia's invasion of Ukraine. But the issue has been aggravated by a shortage of around 390,000 homes.
Ms. Yesilgöz's VVD took over as centre-right leader when the country's longest-serving prime minister, Mark Rutte, bowed out of politics in July. Some politicians and Muslim figures have accused her of opening the door to the far right by refusing to rule out working with Wilders.
