The moderate political faction under the leadership of Rob Jetten has won Wednesday's tightly fought electoral contest, as per ballot assessments suggesting it cannot be beaten by anti-Islam populist his main rival.
His political group currently has a narrow lead of 15,000 votes over Wilders' Freedom Party, and local media sources say that despite the fact the vote count is not complete, Wilders can no longer win.
Estimates from nearly all of the vote put the two main contenders on 26 seats in the 150-seat parliament - but election analysts says Jetten's centrists could win a additional parliamentary position.
Success will mean the winning candidate will be able to start work on building a governing alliance.
Campaign Strategy and Urban Support
Wilders had led opinion polls ahead of Wednesday's election, but the centrist leader, 38, managed to secure victories in some of the main Dutch cities such as the port city, The Hague and the central hub with a optimistic electoral approach employing a catchphrase of "We are capable"
The candidate has been careful not to declare victory until every ballot is counted, but ANP stated according to data regarding postal voters abroad he may now be confirmed as the winner.
An estimated 90,000 overseas ballots are still being counted.
Coalition Challenges
While his route to establishing a government is complex, he is tipped to assume office as the most youthful head of government in recent Netherlands political annals.
The election frontrunner said following the election that historically had a party won a Netherlands vote with fewer than 30 seats.
He will require the support of no fewer than three other parties to gather the seventy-six positions required to form a coalition. The most obvious candidates would be the right-leaning liberals, the progressive green-labor coalition and the Christian Democrats, but it might require extensive negotiations if such an arrangement is to materialize.
Outgoing Prime Minister Dick Schoof forecast on the end of the week that the formation process would prove complicated. "I reckon I'll still be prime minister at the holiday season - I'd be astonished if it was completed by that time".
