<p>THE HAGUE, Netherlands — The Dutch electoral commission published official results Friday from last week’s elections, confirming that Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s conservative party won the most seats in parliament’s lower house.</p>
<p>According to the finalized count, the People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy, or VVD, secured 34 of the legislature’s 150 seats. The centrist D66 party followed with 24 seats.</p>
<p>Those two parties are now leading talks to form the next government, a complex process likely to take months as they try to find more partners to build a majority coalition amid a fractured political landscape.</p>
<p>Rutte, 54, has led the last three Dutch governments and could become the country’s longest-serving prime minister if he leads the next coalition.</p>
<p>The election stretched over three days finishing March 17, to give voters in groups at high risk from COVID-19 a chance to cast their ballots in relative safety on the first two days.</p>
<p>Four new parties were among 17 that won seats in parliament, the largest number in decades. Among the newcomers were pro-European group Volt, a party representing farmers and rural areas and another party led by a Black woman seeking more action to tackle inequality in the Netherlands.</p>
<p>The coalition formation process suffered a delay Thursday when two officials nominated to map out possible alliances stepped down after one of them was photographed carrying clearly legible notes laying out talking points for the discussions.</p>
<p>Among the legible text in the notes was a line saying that left-leaning parties “aren’t really holding onto one another” and that there was “little enthusiasm” for a minority coalition.</p>
