The moderate political faction led by the prominent candidate has won the midweek tightly fought electoral contest, according to vote analysis suggesting it cannot be beaten by anti-Islam populist his main rival.
His political group currently has a slight advantage of fifteen thousand ballots over Wilders' Freedom Party, and local media sources report that even though the ballot tally is not complete, Wilders can no longer win.
Estimates from almost 99% of the ballots put the two main contenders on 26 seats in the 150-seat parliament - but election analysts says the moderate faction might secure a additional parliamentary position.
Victory will signify the winning candidate will be positioned to begin efforts on building a governing alliance.
Electoral Approach and Urban Support
The populist candidate had led opinion polls going into Wednesday's election, but the centrist leader, 38, succeeded in winning in key Dutch cities including the port city, the administrative capital and the central hub with a positive campaign employing a catchphrase of "We are capable"
He has been careful to avoid premature celebration before all votes are in, but election authorities said according to data regarding overseas ballots he could now be declared the victorious candidate.
An estimated ninety thousand foreign votes are still being counted.
Governing Hurdles
While his path to forming a coalition is not straightforward, he is projected to become the youngest prime minister in recent Netherlands political annals.
Jetten commented following the election that never before had a party secured victory in a Netherlands vote with less than thirty parliamentary positions.
He will require the support of at least three other parties to gather the seventy-six positions needed to establish a governing majority. The likely partners would be the right-leaning liberals, the left-wing Labour (PvdA)-GreenLeft alliance and the Christian Democrats, but it might require extensive negotiations if that is to happen.
The current head of government the incumbent predicted on the end of the week that the formation process would prove complicated. "I believe I'll remain in office at Christmas - I'd be astonished if it was completed by that time".
