page_title: Pim Fortuyn
hierarchical_section_title: Pim Fortuyn
caption_attribution_description: English: Pim Fortuyn on 4 May 2002, two days before his assassinationNederlands: Pim Fortuyn op 4 mei 2002, twee dagen voordat hij werd vermoord
context_page_description: Wilhelmus Simon Petrus Fortuijn, known as Pim Fortuyn, was a Dutch politician, academic, author and businessman who formed his own party, Pim Fortuyn List in 2002.
  Initially a Marxist and later a member of the Dutch Labour Party, Fortuyn's beliefs began to shift to the right in the 1990s in response to the immigration policies of the Netherlands. Fortuyn prompted controversy with his views on multiculturalism, immigration and Islam in the Netherlands. He called Islam "a backward culture", and was quoted as saying that if it were legally possible, he would close the borders for Muslim immigrants. Fortuyn also supported tougher measures against crime and opposed state bureaucracy, wanting to reduce Dutch financial contribution to the European Union. He was labelled a far-right populist by his opponents and in the media, but he fiercely rejected this label. Fortuyn was openly homosexual and a supporter of gay rights.
  Fortuyn explicitly distanced himself from "far-right" politicians such as the Belgian Filip Dewinter, Austrian Jörg Haider, or Frenchman Jean-Marie Le Pen whenever compared to them.
context_section_description: Wilhelmus Simon Petrus Fortuijn, known as Pim Fortuyn (Dutch: [ˈpɪm fɔrˈtœyn] (listen); 19 February 1948 – 6 May 2002), was a Dutch politician, academic, author and businessman who formed his own party, Pim Fortuyn List (Lijst Pim Fortuyn or LPF) in 2002.
  Initially a Marxist and later a member of the Dutch Labour Party, Fortuyn's beliefs began to shift to the right in the 1990s in response to the immigration policies of the Netherlands. Fortuyn prompted controversy with his views on multiculturalism, immigration and Islam in the Netherlands. He called Islam "a backward culture", and was quoted as saying that if it were legally possible, he would close the borders for Muslim immigrants. Fortuyn also supported tougher measures against crime and opposed state bureaucracy, wanting to reduce Dutch financial contribution to the European Union. He was labelled a far-right populist by his opponents and in the media, but he fiercely rejected this label. Fortuyn was openly homosexual and a supporter of gay rights.
  Fortuyn explicitly distanced himself from "far-right" politicians such as the Belgian Filip Dewinter, Austrian Jörg Haider, or Frenchman Jean-Marie Le Pen whenever compared to them. While he compared his own politics to centre-right politicians such as Silvio Berlusconi of Italy and Edmund Stoiber of Germany, he also admired former Dutch Prime Minister Joop den Uyl, a social democrat, and Democratic U.S. president John F. Kennedy. Fortuyn also criticised the polder model and the policies of the outgoing government of Wim Kok and repeatedly described himself and LPF's ideology as pragmatic and not populistic. In March 2002, his newly created LPF became the largest party in Fortuyn's hometown Rotterdam during the Dutch municipal elections held that year.
  Fortuyn was assassinated during the 2002 Dutch national election campaign by Volkert van der Graaf, a left-wing environmentalist and animal rights activist. In court at his trial, van der Graaf said he murdered Fortuyn to stop him from exploiting Muslims as "scapegoats" and targeting "the weak members of society" in seeking political power. The LPF went on to poll in second place during the election but went into decline soon after.
caption: Pim Fortuyn on 4 May 2002, two days before his assassination (Photo: Roy Beusker)
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