Pim Fortuyn List
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Pim Fortuyn List
Lijst Pim Fortuyn |
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| Abbreviation | LPF |
| Founder | Pim Fortuyn |
| Founded | 14 February 2002 |
| Dissolved | 1 January 2008 |
| Split from | Livable Netherlands |
| Headquarters | Rotterdam |
| Youth wing | Young Fortuynisten |
| Thinktank | Prof.Dr. W.S.P. Fortuynstichting |
| Ideology |
Right-wing populism Populism |
| Political position | Centre-right |
| European affiliation | None |
| International affiliation | None |
| European Parliament group | None |
| Colours | Yellow and Blue |
The Pim Fortuyn List (Dutch: Lijst Pim Fortuyn, LPF) was a right-wing populistpolitical party in the Netherlands. The eponymous founder of the party was Pim Fortuyn, a charismatic former university professor and political columnist who initially had planned to contest the 2002 general election as leader of the Livable Netherlands (LN) party. He was however dismissed as party leader in February 2002 due to controversial remarks he made in a newspaper interview on immigration-related issues, and instead founded LPF a few days later. After gaining support in opinion polls, Fortuyn was assassinated on 6 May 2002, nine days before the election. The party held onto its support, and went on to become the second-largest party in the election.
The LPF formed part of a coalition government with the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) and the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), but internal conflicts in the LPF led to the coalition's break-up and fresh elections after a few months. Following the 2003 election, the party was left in opposition. It became clear that the party was not viable without its original leader, and it went into decline until it was finally dissolved in 2008.
Fortuyn announced his intention to run for parliament in a television interview on 20 August 2001. An unusual aspect of this was that it was not yet clear which political party he would be a candidate for. Although he was already in contact with the Livable Netherlands (LN) party, he initially also considered running for the CDA or creating his own list. On 25 November he was chosen as party leader for the LN. The LN functioned as the national extension of a movement that had contested municipal but never national elections. Fortuyn concluded his acceptance speech by saying the words that would become his slogan; "At your service!" Almost immediately after Fortuyn became leader, LN went from 2% in opinion polls to about 17%. In January 2002, it was announced that Fortuyn also would head the Livable Rotterdam (LR) list for the March 2002 local elections. The official 2002 election study found that immigration and integration problems were the second most important issue for voters after issues concerning the health care system. Helped by the many speeches and interviews given by Fortuyn, immigration issues became the major topic of the national political agenda, thereby forcing other parties to react.
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