On 6 May 2002 nine days before the election Fortuyn was assassinated by a 32-year-old environmental activist. in Hilversum. A few relatively minor riots erupted in The Hague where Melkert was at the time, urging him to make a quick departure from the city. After receiving death threats, including a loaded gun in the mail, he and his family temporarily went into hiding. Melkert's PvdA lost nearly half its seats, decreasing from 45 to 23 in the 150 seat House of Representatives. The party fell from 1st to 4th place. Melkert resigned as political leader on election night and was replaced by former speaker of the House of Representatives, Jeltje van Nieuwenhoven. Melkert remained in parliament for a short time afterwards. His last major parliamentary debate was on the state of the European Union.