Dutch General Election Also Sees 'Far-Right Wave'... Freedom Party Leads Overwhelmingly in Exit Polls

'Anti-Immigration' Liberty Party Expected to Secure 35 Seats in the House
Double the Previous Election...Ruling Party in 3rd Place
Coalition Formation Expected to Face Difficulties

In the early general election held in the Netherlands on the 22nd (local time), the far-right Freedom Party (PVV), which advocates anti-immigration and anti-Islam policies, was expected to secure an overwhelming first place. As the far-right wave, which began with the spread of anti-immigration sentiment in Europe, gains momentum, it is also expected to influence the rightward shift trend in neighboring countries.

Geert Wilders, leader of the Party for Freedom in the Netherlands
[Photo by AFP Yonhap News]

According to the daily newspaper The Guardian and others, exit polls released immediately after voting ended by the polling agency Ipsos predicted that the Freedom Party would secure the largest number of 35 seats out of the 150 seats in the House of Representatives. This is more than double the 17 seats the Freedom Party won in the 2021 general election.

The number of seats secured by the Freedom Party far surpassed the 26 seats predicted for the left-leaning GreenLeft-Labour Party alliance (GL-PvdA), which was forecasted to come in second in the exit polls. The current ruling party of the coalition government, the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), was surveyed to come in third with 23 seats.

Since the vote counting is still ongoing, the actual results may differ, but it is generally expected that the results will be confirmed within a margin of 1 to 2 seats.

The Freedom Party is a party that advocates strong anti-Islam policies and the cessation of asylum allowances. It insists on holding a referendum on the Netherlands' withdrawal from the European Union (EU), maintaining a negative stance toward the EU. Although the Freedom Party took a relatively moderate position compared to previous elections, foreign media reported that it still does not bend its existing claims.

In particular, Geert Wilders (60), the leader of the Freedom Party, was once called the "Dutch Donald Trump." After the exit poll announcement, Wilders said, "We will end the asylum and immigration 'tsunami,'" adding, "Voters said, 'We are tired of (the existing immigration policies).'"

The Freedom Party's landslide victory was sensed even before the election. In a poll released on the 20th, two days before the vote, the Freedom Party tied for first place with the ruling People's Party for Freedom and Democracy. Until then, it had ranked fourth in the polls, but public opinion changed rapidly recently.

This general election is a significant election in which the head of the Dutch government will be replaced for the first time in 13 years. In the Netherlands, the leader of the party that wins first place in the general election is usually recommended as the prime minister candidate, and due to the polarized multi-party system, forming a coalition is essential to secure at least a majority in the 150-seat House of Representatives.

However, if the Freedom Party's landslide victory is confirmed, considerable difficulties are expected in the future selection of the prime minister and the formation of a new coalition government. Although the Freedom Party has secured seats by ranking second or third in previous elections, it was mostly excluded from coalition formation, so The Guardian predicted that it would not be easy for the party to be included this time either.

Before this election, all parties except the ruling People's Party for Freedom and Democracy had dismissed the possibility of coalition cooperation with the Freedom Party. In the 2021 general election, it took a record 299 days for the current Prime Minister Mark Rutte's People's Party for Freedom and Democracy to form a coalition government.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.