Dutch political leaders sought support from undecided voters in campaigning on Tuesday, ahead of the general election.
Four parties across the political spectrum will compete to form the largest bloc in the 150-seat lower house of parliament. Long-time MP Geert Wilders, known for his anti-immigrant stance, is widely popular.
The fourth and final coalition of Prime Minister Mark Rutte resigned in July after it had failed to agree on measures to curb migration. Rutte declared he would not be re-elected but would remain in power as interim prime minister until a new coalition was formed.
The vote could give the Netherlands its first ever female prime minister as the new leader of the People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) will be 46-year-old Dilan Yeşilgöz-Zegerius, a former refugee who now advocates cracking down on immigration.
Veteran MP Geert Wilders, who has softened his trademark strident anti-Islamic rhetoric during the campaign in favour of pushing policies aimed at stopping asylum seekers entering the Netherlands and addressing the cost-of-living crisis and housing shortage, is also gaining popularity in the final days of the campaign.
On Tuesday, one poll even put Wilders’ Party for Freedom, the PVV, in first place, just ahead of the VVD. If Wilders’ party were to win a majority of seats, he would lead the way in forming a new governing coalition in the country, where the voting system virtually guarantees that no party would get an absolute majority.
The centre-left bloc of the Labour Party and the left-wing Greens also struggled to win the three-way race for votes. Its leader, former European Union climate chief Frans Timmermans, campaigned in his home city of Maastricht.
Asked on Tuesday whether Yeşilgöz-Zegerius would serve in a cabinet headed by Wilders, she replied negatively.
“The Netherlands is looking for a leader who can unite the country … who is for all Dutch people, who can lead our country internationally. I also don’t see that Mr. Wilders could build a majority.”
Wilders stated that those comments were a sign that the VVD feared his party might win the vote.
Panic at the VVD. The PVV is getting too big for them.
Thierry Baudet, leader of the far-right Forum for Democracy, returned to parliament on Tuesday after being attacked at a campaign event on Monday night by a man who hit him on the head with a beer bottle. A small wound was visible above his left eye.
“I was very lucky. I see it as a political attack.”
Polls show that Baudet’s party, once considered a rising star of the far-right populists, will win several seats on Wednesday. The New Social Contract party, founded in the summer by MP Pieter Omtzigt, was slightly behind the top three contenders.
