THE HAGUE, Netherlands, Oct 30, (AP): Far-right lawmaker Geert Wilders' far-right Party for Freedom and the centrist D66 were were tied with 98% votes counted in the Dutch general election in an unprecedented neck-and-neck race to become the biggest party. The near total vote count showed each party winning 26 seats in Wednesday's election.

The difference between the two leading parties was just over 2,000 votes nationwide, according to the vote count tallied and published by Dutch national news agency ANP and cited by Dutch media. The nail-biting finish is expected to lead to delays in starting the process of forming a new coalition. No Dutch election has previously ended with two parties tied for the lead.

Wilders’ Party for Freedom is forecast to lose 11 seats in the 150-seat House of Representatives, while D66, led by Rob Jetten, gains 11, according to the vote count. Wilders insisted early Thursday that his party should play a leading role in coalition talks if it is the largest. "As long as there’s no 100% clarity on this, no D66 scout can get started. We will do everything we can to prevent this,” he said.

A scout is an official appointed by the winning party to look into possible coalitions. "It’s neck and neck, a few thousand votes” difference, D66 lawmaker Jan Paternotte told national broadcaster NOS. "I don’t know if it’s been this close in the Netherlands before. There are often close elections ... but this time it’s exceptionally close.”

The NOS said that votes from nine municipalities were yet to be recorded; that number includes three overseas municipalities and postal votes. It was not immediately clear when those votes would be registered. The result remains a momentous win for D66, whose biggest previous seat tally was 24. When the party reached that number in 2021, the leader at the time, Sigrid Kaag, danced for joy on a table at a party meeting.

Despite his party’s big gains, with a victory now in the balance, Jetten is unlikely to be dancing on any table Thursday, when parties traditionally gather at parliament to digest the result. "Millions of Dutch people today chose positive forces and a politics where we can look forward together again,” Jetten told cheering supporters on election night.

Despite vying for the top spot, Wilders’ party saw a sharp decline in its support at a snap election he forced when he torpedoed the outgoing four-party coalition in June in a dispute over migration. His party was the biggest in that coalition that lasted just 11 months and was marked by infighting between its members. Jetten said Wednesday night that political leaders need to seek common ground "to form a stable and ambitious Cabinet.”

In fallout from the vote, Frans Timmermans, the former European Commission vice president, said he was quitting Dutch politics after the center-left bloc the Labor Party and Green Left that he led lost seats in an election it had hoped to win. The vote came against a backdrop of deep polarization in the Netherlands, a nation once famed as a beacon of tolerance.