PIM FORTUYN

Leader of conservative political party

Wilhelmus Simon Petrus
"Pim" Fortuyn, (February 19, 1948 – May 6, 2002) 
He was a charismatic Dutch politician, author, public servant, sociologist and professor who formed his own party, Pim Fortuyn List (Lijst Pim Fortuyn or LPF). The official spelling of his family name is "Fortuijn"; later in life he used the spelling "Fortuyn".
Fortuyn was the centre of several controversies for his views about immigrants and Islam. He called Islam "a backward culture" and said that if it were legally possible he would close the borders for Muslim immigrants. He was labelled a far-right populist by his opponents and in the media, but he fiercely rejected this label and explicitly distanced himself from far-right politicians such as the Belgian Filip Dewinter, the Austrian Jörg Haider, or Frenchman Jean-Marie Le Pen whenever compared to them. While Fortuyn compared his own politics to centre-right politicians such as Silvio Berlusconi of Italy, he also admired former Dutch Prime Minister Joop den Uyl, a socialist. Fortuyn however repeatedly described himself and LPF's ideology as pragmatism and not populism. Fortuyn was openly gay.

Early life
Fortuyn was born on 19 February 1948 in Driehuis, as the third child to a Catholic family. In 1967 he began to study sociology at theUniversity of Amsterdam but transferred after a few months to the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam. In 1971 he ended his study with the Academic degree Doctorandus. He later worked as a lecturer at the Nyenrode Business Universiteit and as an associate professor at the University of Groningen.
In 1981 he received a doctorate in sociology at the University of Groningen as a Doctor of Philosophy. In 1989 he became director of a government organisation administering student transport cards. In 1990 he moved to Rotterdam and from 1991 to 1995, he was an extraordinary professor at the Erasmus University Rotterdam, appointed to the Albeda-chair in 'employment conditions in public service'. When his contract was discontinued, he made a career of public speaking and writing books and press columns, gradually becoming involved in politics.
Fortuyn was assassinated during the 2002 Dutch national election campaign by Volkert van der Graaf, who claimed in court he had murdered Fortuyn to stop him from exploiting Muslims as "scapegoats" and targeting "the weak parts of society to score points" in seeking political power

political career

In 1992 Fortuyn wrote "Aan het volk van Nederland" (To the people of the Netherlands) and declared himself as the successor of the charismatic but controversial Dutch politician Joan van der Capellen tot den Pol.

A one-time communist and former member of the social-democratic Dutch Labour Party, on 26 November 2001 he was elected by a large majority as "lijsttrekker" of the newly formed Livable Netherlands party to participate in the Dutch general election of 2002.Fortuyn's house in Rotterdam where he lived from 1998 until his death

On 9 February 2002, he was interviewed by the Volkskrant, a Dutch newspaper (see below). The statements he made were considered so controversial that he was dismissed as lijsttrekker the next day. In the interview Fortuyn said, among other things, that he favoured putting an end to Muslim immigration, if that were possible. Having been rejected by Livable Netherlands, Fortuyn founded his own party LPF (Pim Fortuyn List) on 11 February 2002. Many Livable Netherlands supporters transferred their support to the new party.

As lijsttrekker for the Livable Rotterdam party, a local issues party, he achieved a major victory in the Rotterdam district council elections in early March 2002. The new party won about 36% of the seats, making it the largest party in the council. For the first time since the Second World War, the Dutch Labour Party found itself out of power in Rotterdam.

For the next three months Fortuyn gave hundreds of Interviews and statements about his political ideology and ideas. In March he released his book "The Mess of Eight Purple Years" (Puinhopen Van Acht Jaar Paars) which he used as his political agenda for the upcoming general election.