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Voters in the Netherlands are gearing up for a snap parliamentary election expected to be a knife-edge race on Wednesday.
As party leaders do their final stretch of campaigning, many voters have signalled they haven’t made up their mind yet.
Speaking to Euronews from The Hague, one voter explained he wants to be “very precise,” weighing his options before making a final decision, but wants his vote to “make a positive change to society”, mentioning the housing crisis as a major problem he hopes the next government will tackle.
Another voter said “I am voting for something I have never voted for before,” explaining he wants to see a change towards a left-wing government.
The far-right Geert Wilders is hoping to secure a second victory with his PVV party, just two years after winning big in the 2023 elections.
The biggest party in the outgoing four-party coalition, Wilders torpedoed the administration after failing to push through all of what he called Europe’s toughest asylum and immigration policies.
He withdrew his party’s ministers in June, triggering the fourth general election in a decade and ensuring that the administration led by Prime Minister Dick Schoof will go down in history as one of the shortest-lived Dutch governments at just 11 months.
Now, mainstream parties argue that Wilders’ decision to bring down the government show that he can’t be trusted as a coalition partner and have ruled out working with him in a new administration.
While polls suggest that Wilders’ party remains on track to be the largest bloc in the 150-seat House of Representatives, other parties across the political spectrum are closing the gap.
The final poll released by Ipsos I&O on Tuesday indicates that the Green Left Labour Party (GL-PvdA) and centre-left D66 have joined the PVV ahead of the pack with 23 prospective seats.
Not far behind are the Christian Democrats (CDA) and conservative VVD with 19 and 17 seats respectively.
Another poll by EenVandaag puts Geert Wilders’ PVV in the lead with GL-PvdA and D66 trailing close behind.
Both polls also indicate voter uncertainty remains significant: 35% remains uncertain according to EenVandaag and 26% according to Ipsos I&O.
Polls are suggesting a wide range of parties could come out on top on Wednesday, and with no clear winner in sight, the outcome remains highly unpredicable.
Polls open across the country at 7:30am on Wednesday and close at 9pm. Broadcasters publish an exit poll as soon as voting ends and update it a half-hour later.