The media is full of stories about the commemoration of the murder of Pim Fortuyn, twenty years ago this week. What would Fortuyn have achieved if he had won the elections and become Prime Minister? Would politics have changed drastically or would Fortuyn have adapted to the political manners of the time? Because you can want anything in this country, you can never achieve it on your own. The Netherlands is a coalition country. Fortuyn also realized this all too well.
The answers don’t matter, because the situation didn’t arise because of the murder. The clock cannot be turned back. It is interesting to know whether types like Fortuyn can be found in the current era and whether they can be of significance in today’s politics. This website put that question to a few people who could make an informed judgment about it, such as Kay van de Linde, Fortuyn’s spokesperson at the time at Leefbaar Nederland. Pieter Omtzigt is actually the only one seriously mentioned as a possible heir.
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The former CDA MP, the louse in the fur of any government, indeed seems to have the same drive as Fortuyn. He fights like no other against the backroom politics that is mainly practiced by coalition parties. Thanks to that drive and tenacity, and with the help of journalism, he brought the benefits affair to light and brought down the cabinet. Although the latter was not an end in itself.
Omtzigt observes the same as Fortuyn twenty years ago: the government is mainly concerned with itself, functions insufficiently and pays too little attention to the problems of citizens. The shortage of affordable housing for very large groups of people, the energy costs that are skyrocketing, the care that is becoming unaffordable. It is seen, also acknowledged, but little is done about it. The lack of sufficient housing has existed since the end of World War II, and that has been for 77 years.
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Although Omtzigt sounds like Fortuyn, he does not feel like the best-known successor of the former LPF leader. He has his own style, his own sound, his own approach. Even though many people say they will vote for Omtzigt if he starts his own party, he doesn’t seem like the type to move the masses like Fortuyn did. Amazingly, Rita Verdonk dares to measure herself with Fortuyn. She has the same ideas as Fortuyn when it comes to immigration and integration, she says. But that doesn’t make you the political successor; it rather belongs to Richard de Mos, should he be found guilty by the judge.
People like Pieter Omtzigt, Caroline van der Plas and – forward – Joost Eerdmans are popular among large groups of voters, but that does not make you a Fortuyn.
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In the Nederlands Dagblad, historian Geert Waling, speaker at a symposium to commemorate the politician’s murder, refers to a stronger belief in democracy and freedom of expression as Fortuyn’s legacy. His slogan ‘I say what I think and I do what I say’ made him wildly popular in the 2002 election campaign. It was seen by his supporters as support for the voter: he dares to say what we think. Fortuyn could say that, other politicians probably couldn’t.
It would be wrong to designate a political heir. That person would always be compared with Fortuyn in all his doings and could not be himself. And if there’s one thing we hate, it’s politicians who aren’t themselves, who just play a role.
Even without a successor, we can preserve Fortuyn’s ideas.
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