Assassinated politician Pim Fortuyn continued to be at the forefront of Dutch politics as voters gave the major Dutch political parties the thumbs down reports Judit Neurink from Amsterdam Even after his death, the assassinated right-wing Dutch politician Pim Fortuyn was still shaking up politics in the Netherlands. During the elections of 15 May, a week after the flamboyant politician was assassinated, List Pim Fortuyn (LPF) won 17 per cent of the vote. Such results for a first-timer are unprecedented in the history of the Dutch parliament. The coalition government of former Prime Minister Wim Kok also achieved a first, losing more seats than any previous government. The LPF at once became the second party, with 26 seats, after the elections' big winner, the Christian Democrats, who took 43 seats. The CDA was the only party that said before the elections that it was willing to form a coalition with Fortuyn. Most other parties had said that the ideas of the flamboyant gay professor -- especially those on immigration, with his slogans like "Islam is a backward culture" and "Holland should no longer permit Muslims entry" -- were too extreme for them. Just how the assassination, which occurred a week before the elections, impacted on the contest is unclear. Observers' predictions about the outcome of the elections were not far off when they had said that LPF would win 25 seats. Not surprisingly following a week filled with memorial marches, thousands of mourners laying flowers at Fortuyn's house in Rotterdam and accusations that left-wing speeches incited the assassination, many people are thought to have changed their vote at the last minute. What is incontrovertible is that the election results show that the Dutch made a big shift to the right, with all but one of the left-wing parties losing considerable support. Fortuyn's success has also cast the spotlight on his country's politically disaffected citizens. Much of the flamboyant politician's support came from the poorer districts that barely have a "white" majority, and from the sleepy predominantly white villages. Fortuyn also attracted some of the "older" groups of immigrants from the former Dutch colonies who supported his tough anti-immigration stand. Because of Fortuyn, both immigration and crime were hot topics in the election campaign. Even though crime rates are lower in the Netherlands than in Germany and Britain, the two larger neighbouring countries are taking in far more refugees at the moment than Holland. Any new government will have to find a way to make the Dutch feel safe again in their homes and streets, and find solutions for the problems that new immigrants bring with them. Perhaps one of the positive results of Fortuyn's short political career is that the debate in the Netherlands about integration and the coexistance of peoples of different cultures and religions has been reopened. Many Dutch had not dared to express their irritation about the influx of non-white immigrants for fear of being branded racist. Since Fortuyn started his political career last year, people have bitterly complained about youngsters of non-Dutch descent hanging around in an intimidating way. Two lawyer friends of Fortuyn have filed a lawsuit against a number of left-wing politicians, a respected Dutch newspaper and a handful of journalists, claiming that they had fostered an atmosphere characterised by hatred towards Fortuyn. They claim that the criticism of Fortuyn amounted to incitement that not only led to an incident in which the politician was pelted with cream cakes, but ultimately to his assassination. A popular Dutch singer has dedicated a song to him, and plans to use the proceeds of the CD to erect a statue of the late professor. With the main political leaders still under police protection, the departure from politics of the two leaders of the liberals and social- democrats, and with the family of outgoing social-democrat leader, Ad Melkert, in hiding after serious threats, Queen Beatrix is consulting with politicians to form a new coalition government. She is expected to appoint a Christian Democrat to explore the possibilities of forming a coalition government made up of members of the LPF, Christian Democrats and Liberals. However, the new Liberal leader -- former Finance Minister Gerrit Zalm -- has sworn that his party will not join such a government. While making the LPF part of a coalition government is likely to hamper the government's efficiency, leaving the LPF out in the cold would only further infuriate Fortuyn's angry supporters.
