Dutch politician, shot five times and killed 5/06/2002, 18:03 MEDT in Hilversum. Fortuyn entered politics just five months prior after being a columnist and university professor, a homosexual, who dared to ask questions and probe the reason for things. He was openly provoking governmental lethargy of the past decade, causing offence to some factions. The week before elections, he was assassinated by a minor extremist. The people were greatly shocked, taking off work and carrying flowers to the site.
Pim Fortuyn was a Professor in Sociology at the University of Groningen and at first a member of the Dutch Party for Work (= Labour Party/in America more the Democratic Party). His political career there did not flourish and he abandoned the party. He also became a journalist writing about politics in the Weekly magazine “Elsevier.” He also went into business and became a Director with other people of a student card named OV and moved to Rotterdam where he again got a chair in Sociology. He immersed himself more and more into politics and had ambitions to become a leading player. He flirted with another major party, namely CDA (they are more like the Republicans).
Fortuyn wrote a book against the government in power for the past eight years, “The Purple Government” and with the publication of this book he also propelled himself forward into politics. He was a lone voice, and really came to the public attention for his opinions. Fortuyn is openly gay, a matter that is objectionable to some fundamentalists – although he has no partner and lived alone with two small dogs.
He was continually before the media with daily television, radio or newspaper interview. He also was to be seen in many political debates. He was called in several interviews by political opponents a racist and right-wing extremist, and unfortunately likened to Hitler, Himmler, etc. He was right-wing, but definitely not a racist. He also was a maverick, and blew the whole political debate wide open. People, especially the young ones became interested in politics again. The established parties did not know what to do with him. In The Netherlands once a party list has been published nothing can be altered, it stands till the election.
On Monday 6 May, the morning papers published an opinion poll in which his dream could very definitely become reality. He went to give an interview for a radio station in a TV and radio town, Hilversum. He gave his interview and walked back with the director and the interviewer to his car when a man shot him from close range. He had two bullets in his head, two in the back and one in the chest at the time of 18.06 PM. This was our first political murder since more than 300 years. Holland went totally to pieces and slightly hysterical. Last Friday he was buried with full pomp, not seen since the death of Queen Wilhelmina. The irony is that he is still heading his political party in the elections to be held next Wednesday and that the party, which was him, might still score a very high vote. The latest opinion poll makes them second. The reason why he was shot is a mystery as the presumed killer does not want to speak. Directly after the shots were fired and he tried to flee, people ran after him and the police got a minute-to-minute telephone account of people who saw a man being chased and rang the police. At 18.12 pm he was caught. He is working for the Ministerie of the Environment controlling if farms have the right papers, and is an animal rights activist.
Manja Parkinson writes, “I have to say that he was a very interesting character, very unpredictable as well. He had also a lot of right ideas, but also some strange ones. The establishment was against him, but the ordinary people all said that he spoke their language. The one legacy he has now left was that the politicians cannot go back to their old ways and that they have to take account of what people really want.”
Link to Wikipedia biography