At the VVD party headquarters, leader Dilan Yeşilgöz walked onto the stage to chants of her name, a striking contrast to earlier rumors that she might have to resign if the party suffered major losses.
Speaking to POLITICO, she framed the early results as a mandate for a center-right agenda: “Based on these [early] results, the Netherlands has chosen a center-right course in which we really commit ourselves to a strong defense sector, a strong economy, and lower taxes.”
When asked about the apparent contradiction of celebrating despite a modest decline in seats, Yeşilgöz replied: “The polls in the past months weren’t so good for the VVD. When you see how we’ve been able to rebound from that, then there’s reason to speak of a beautiful celebration.”
Fans of the GreenLeft-Labor alliance, who gathered in the large Maassilo venue in Rotterdam, fell silent after the exit poll revealed the joint ticket had underperformed, losing seats compared to the last election and falling short of predictions in the most recent surveys.
Enthusiasm had built before the exit poll, in a venue lit up in red and green where attendees were served red and green shots — but the mood was quickly doused.
Their disappointment was quickly compounded by another blow: Timmermans, the alliance’s leader and former European Commission vice president and climate chief, announced his resignation from the party leadership.
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