Pim Fortuyn

Dr. Wilhelmus Simon Petrus Fortuijn, known as Pim Fortuyn (surname pronounced somewhat like for-TOYN, IPA: {{IPA|}}), (February 19, 1948 – May 6, 2002), was a controversial politician in the Netherlands who formed his own party List Pim Fortuyn (LPF). He was assassinated during the 2002 Dutch national election campaign by Volkert van der Graaf, a white collar left-wing environmentalist. Fortuyn could perhaps best be described as a liberal right-wing populist, though some of his ideas were rather leftist; he was in favour of free public transportation and reducing the size of the Dutch military.

Other views

He said he was neither right wing nor left wing, asked for more openness in politics, and expressed his distaste for what he called "subsidy socialism". He furthermore criticised the media as a Siamese twin of the government.

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He wanted smaller-scale organisation of public services such as health, education, and the police, making extensive use of the possibilities of information technology (for example, a surgeon conducting an operation remotely at a local hospital). Critics said his plans would require building hundreds or thousands of new institutions at enormous expense, but Fortuyn said no extra funds would be allocated until inefficiencies had been removed.

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He also held liberal views, favouring the drug policy of the Netherlands, same-sex marriage, euthanasia, and related positions.

Related Topics:
Drug policy of the Netherlands - Same-sex marriage - Euthanasia

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He wanted to unite the army and air force to save money, retaining only a navy, but also favoured re-instating compulsory military service, giving youngsters the choice between military service and a new form of social services (in which they would help in hospitals or retirement homes, for example). It is often said that he wanted to disband the army and the air force; however, Fortuyn denied this on 24 March 2002 in a business TV programme.

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