Dutch PM Rutte heading for fourth term after election victory
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte is on track to win a fourth term in office, as his conservative party has remained the largest party in the Netherlands.
Following national elections yesterday, Rutte’s VVD party is projected to take 36 out of 150 seats in the lower house, according to Dutch media this morning.
“I am extremely proud”, Rutte reportedly said, calling his fourth consecutive election victory “uplifting”.
Rutte, in office since 2010, said “the challenges ahead of us are enormous. In the coming weeks and months, we need to lead the country out of the corona crisis.”
Results indicate that Rutte will have to form a coalition with at least two other parties in order to have a majority of 76 seats.
Former UN diplomat Sigrid Kaag, who heads the pro-European Union D66 party, is likely to re-join Rutte’s government, as D66 has become Holland’s second-largest party, winning 27 seats.
Final results will be announced on 26 March.