Election watch: D66 on the rise, Yesilgöz says no
With 12 days to go before the Dutch general election on October 29, here’s a round-up of today’s election news.
D66 on the rise
The Liberal Democratic party D66 is gradually increasing in popularity and is now overtaking the right-wing Liberal VVD, according to the latest poll of polls.
The Peilingwijzer, which combines opinion polls carried out by Ipsos I&O and Verian/EenVandaag, puts D66 on 13 to 17 seats in the 150-seat parliament, on the back of leader Rob Jetten’s successful television appearances this week. The VVD is on 12 to 16.
The poll of polls puts the far-right PVV on 29 to 33 seats, and both the Christian Democrats and the GroenLinks-PvdA alliance on 22 to 26. JA21 is on target to win 10 to 14.
No other party is likely to win more than five seats, and NSC, the party launched by Pieter Omtzigt which won 20 seats in November 2023, is poised to disappear from parliament altogether.
VVD leader rules out a coalition with GroenLinks-PvdA
VVD leader Dilan Yesilgöz has told the Telegraaf in an interview that she would not take part in a coalition cabinet in which GroenLinks-PvdA leader Frans Timmermans is prime minister.
If the alliance ends up second to the far-right PVV, which will fail to put together a coalition, “then you have made Timmermans prime minister,” she said. “And I cannot imagine he and I having a good discussion about the future of our country.”
Asked if she was saying that if Timmermans were to be prime minister the VVD would join the opposition, Yesilgöz said: “Yes, because then we will have a left-wing cabinet and we won’t be part of that.”
Thank you for donating to DutchNews.nl.
We could not provide the Dutch News service, and keep it free of charge, without the generous support of our readers. Your donations allow us to report on issues you tell us matter, and provide you with a summary of the most important Dutch news each day.
Make a donation