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Posted on 01/17/2003 3:32:51 PM PST by knighthawk
This coming Wednesday, Dutch voters will be heading to the polls for the second time in just one year. Last May, the usually tranquil Dutch political landscape was shaken by the most significant developments of the past few decades: the meteoric rise of populist right-wing leader Pim Fortuyn and his assassination just days before the polls.
Pim Fortuyn had skilfully played the media to position himself as the mouthpiece of mounting popular discontent and this brought his party an unprecedented election victory in May. But once in power, the LPF soon lapsed into endless internal squabbling and leadership struggles, which ultimately triggered the downfall of the fragile centre-right government coalition in October. The January 22nd elections are therefore widely regarded as a second chance for all political parties.
Nevertheless, Pim Fortuyn's political legacy still dominates the polls. The maverick politician had never tired to demonstrate the government's failure to tackle long-running problems or its inability to present viable solutions. Using simple but often strongly worded language, he broke one political taboo after another, triggering a series of public debates on touchy issues. Dutch voters breathed a sigh of relief: at last there was someone who understood their everyday problems and provided all the answers.
Government neglect Following twenty years of cutbacks on education, social services and health care, several sectors of public life found themselves in a sorry state. There were no longer enough qualified teachers; school buildings were in a bad shape and there was an alarming number of drop-outs among pupils. Hospital waiting lists grew longer and longer due to a lack of surgeons and nursing staff. And crime figures continued to rise amid a growing shortage of police officers, judges and detention facilities. For many Dutch voters, the limit had clearly been reached.
The perception was that the established political parties had been unable to improve matters and that would cost them dearly. For the same reason, Pim Fortuyn saw his popularity ratings shoot up in a very short space of time. He knew he was heading for a sweeping victory and even entertained the notion of becoming Prime Minister provided his party took most votes. At the time, that chance could not be ruled out.
Political murder But just over a week before polling day, Pim Fortuyn was assassinated as he walked out of a radio station where he had given a long interview. The unprecedented murder sparked a public outcry in the Netherlands. Although all campaigning was brought to a halt, the elections went ahead as planned and Mr Fortuyn posthumously took no fewer than 1.6 million votes.
His party, the LPF, clinched 26 of the 150 seats in parliament and entered a government coalition with the Christian-Democrat CDA and the conservative VVD. But without their late leader, the LPF proved to be a motley bunch of adventurers lacking professional experience and a common political vision - not quite a recipe for a successful sojourn in the political arena. After just 87 days in government, the LPF found that the party was over.
Lessons learned With Mr Fortuyn dead and the LPF marginalized, all political parties seem to have learned from the experience. Their leaders have all promised to listen carefully to what the electorate wants. Everyone tries to use clear and simple language. Any delay in efforts to solve problems is seen as anathema. Never put off till tomorrow what you can do today, the message now seems to be. And that's the positive side to Fortuyn's legacy. But whether these changes will last remains to be seen.
Some parties are doing better than others when it comes to restoring public confidence in politics. Compared to last year's election campaigns, the overall tone is now much more relaxed and less emotionally charged. What is striking though is that looks have become more important than ever before in a country that used to say it would never allow American-style beauty contests in politics. Content was all that counted. This has clearly changed. Nowadays, charisma and cosmetics have become at least equally important as party manifestos.
Harry Potter With his Harry Potter looks, Christian-Democrat Prime Minister Jan-Peter Balkenende used to enjoy immense popularity. Yet, he's increasingly relapsed into the old political habit of using veiled language and giving evasive answers. His outward appearance no longer works to his advantage and he now finds himself referred to as "babyface". As a result, Mr Balkenende has seen his approval ratings decline sharply, gnawing away at the clear lead he used to have in the opinion polls.
Conversely, last year's big loser, the Social-Democrats, are on the mend. The party has admitted to making grave mistakes in recent years and says it's learned its lesson. Leading the party is the young and charismatic Wouter Bos, who makes sure to stay in close touch with the electorate. He's careful not to make an arrogant impression and mixes easily with people. Mr Bos's party is rising in the polls, which is not suprising given his good looks.
If people want on or off this list, please let me know.
Everyone had high hopes for LPF, but the party just wasn't the same without Fortuyn. I'd heard that during the brief moments they were in charge, LPF placed ministers with zero experience in places of high authority, and the rest of the parties had a jolly time in watching themselves trip over their own mistakes and inability.
Now the old guard will be back in charge again doing what they do best: Nothing.
Those who follow your posts remember that shocking day last spring when Pym was murdered. We all grieved.
This op-ed piece is not encouraging to us. It was not merely Pym's style which was the watershed, it was his ideas.
Is there still the possibility that LPF can play a vital role in Dutch politics ?
I mentioned that, and noticed that I didn't hear anything from my Dutch hosts about the 2000 Florida elections this trip.
Schorem moet naar de Bijlmerbajes.
So are you back to voting CDA? ;]
There are something like seventeen seperate parties, and they're all identified by who their top guy is.
It's the only way to tell any difference between them, usually.
Same here. But it was the things he said. I remember the evening when he was shot. In The Hague hundereds of people were protesting in the streets. I bet a lot of them were the same people who would beat up gays if they would meet on the street. But now they were angry, outraged, and sad because Fortuyn was killed. The world is a strange place.
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