Mark Rutte and Geert Wilders | Robin Utrecht/AFP via Getty Images Dutch election debate canceled after Wilders and Rutte quit Two biggest parties back out of debate over concerns broadcaster had invited too many candidates to participate.

A televised election debate in the Netherlands has been canceled after the leaders of the two parties leading in opinion polls backed out, local media reported Sunday evening.

The far-right Freedom Party's Geert Wilders and Prime Minister Mark Rutte of the liberal People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) decided not to participate in the February 26 debate, accusing broadcaster RTL of not sticking to an agreement to host just four parties and instead inviting five. The broadcaster had asked Christian-Democrat CDA, liberal D66 and the Greens to participate, stating it was unable to whittle the list down further due to negligible differences in the opinion polls of the three parties.

RTL canceled the event because “it would not be a debate between the most important parties." It would have been the first head-to-head in the run-up to the March 15 parliamentary election.

An opinion poll published Sunday showed Wilders' PVV would get the most votes if elections were held now, winning 30 seats in the 150-seat parliament, up from 15 seats it got after the 2012 election. Rutte's VVD was expected to win 24 seats, down from 41 seats it has now.