Sympathy Votes for Dutch Politician

Supporters and sympathizers, political opponents and devout allies turned out by the thousands on Friday in Rotterdam to pay their last respects to assassinated Dutch politician Pim Fortuyn.

Traffic in Fortuyn’s hometown slowed to a crawl as thousands lined the streets along which the 54-year-old’s wake made its way. They showered the white hearse carrying his casket with flowers and constructed impromptu shrines across the country in a tribute to the controversial populist politician, killed last Monday evening by a lone gunman.

"He had nice eyes," Marina Mayer, 47, a Dutch businesswoman told Reuters. "He was a gentle man. He wanted to do many things. They didn’t understand him in the Dutch government, but we did."

A right-wing columnist for a Dutch magazine, Fortuyn was kicked out of Holland’s rightist Liveable Netherlands party because of his biting anti-Islamic, anti-immigrant stances. But Fortuyn touched a nerve with Holland’s populace, many of whom blame the heavy immigrant influx for the country’s social and economic problems.

He grounded his own party, List Pim Fortuyn six months ago and was expected to win as much as 15 percent of the vote in elections on May 15.

Questioning campaign ban

Following his shooting outside the Hilversum media center near Amsterdam, Dutch politicians called for a moratorium on all campaigning and pulled ads and poll results from Dutch television.

On Saturday, political leaders met to reassess the ban. Some are concerned that the heavy outpouring of sympathy could win Fortuyn’s party additional votes. Before his killing, polls suggested one in five Dutch would vote for the openly gay charismatic populist.

A new poll on Monday is expected to show whether Fortuyn’s dramatic death has had any effect on his party’s chances come Wednesday.

Suspect still a question mark?

Speculation continue to swirl as to the motive for the murder. The suspect, 32-year-old Volkert van der Graaf, was by all accounts a quiet and non-threatening man who had recently become a father. Analysts continued to puzzle over why van der Graaf, a dedicated animal rights activist, would want to kill a politician not especially active in animal rights issues.

Dutch police said Friday that they had found the names and addresses of three other members of Fortuyn's party in van der Graaf's car. Police also said found the same caliber bullets pumped into Fortuyn's body in van der Graaf's apartment. They have so far nothing to indicate van der Graaf had an accomplice.