Pubdate: Thu, 16 May 2002
Source: Houston Chronicle (TX)
Copyright: 2002 Houston Chronicle Publishing Company Division, Hearst Newspaper
Contact:  http://www.chron.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/198
Author: Robert Wielaard

DUTCH VOTERS TAKE RIGHT TURN, OUST SOCIALIST COALITION

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands (AP) -- A fledgling party leader was poised to 
become the Netherlands' prime minister Wednesday, after a dramatic shift to 
the right in elections that swamped the governing socialists.

Wednesday's balloting marked a major defeat for Prime Minister Wim Kok's 
liberal coalition. The group was credited with steady economic growth since 
taking power in 1994, but was punished for ignoring growing concerns over 
drugs, immigration, welfare and tax abuse.

In the swing to the right, the upstart party of slain anti-immigration 
populist Pim Fortuyn -- Pim Fortuyn's List -- swept into the legislature 
with 26 seats. A few months ago, the group did not exist.

With 88.6 percent of the vote counted, Jan Peter Balkenende's Christian 
Democrats won 43 seats -- a gain of 15 in the 150-member parliament.

Kok's governing socialists were seen plunging from 45 seats to 23, and his 
Liberal allies from 38 to 23, according to the results.

Balkenende, a 46-year-old Christian philosophy professor who took over the 
the party just eight months ago, was likely to be the next prime minister.

Balkenende, sometimes called the Dutch Harry Potter because of his looks, 
has voiced distaste with the Dutch policies allowing euthanasia, gay 
marriages and tolerance of soft drugs. He declared he was "ready to take on 
the responsibility" of forming a government.

Fortuyn brought those issues to the forefront, tapping into a groundswell 
of discontent with Holland's ruling politicians and their tolerant policies.

He was killed May 6 after doing a campaign radio interview. He was 54. His 
slaying shocked this country of 16 million that is a stranger to political 
violence and has long prided itself on consensus politics.

The election results proved Fortuyn's party, the Christian Democrats and 
their allies could marshal a comfortable parliamentary majority for a 
right-wing government.

At the outset of voting, Kok told voters that his eight years at the helm 
brought them "formidable" growth and prosperity. He said the elections "are 
about my legacy."

In the end, they were more about the legacy of Fortuyn -- the openly gay, 
ex-university professor who was a harsh critic of the government's 
permissiveness of welfare abusers and tolerant asylum, drug and law 
enforcement policies.

The secretary of the Labor Party, Ruud Koole, said it was the worst result 
in the party's history. "This is a difficult day for Labor," he said.

Irreverent, charismatic and a dapper dresser, Fortuyn called for a halt to 
immigration, a crackdown on crime and for throwing out what he called the 
entrenched political elite.

At the chic Hotel des Indes, the faithful cheered as their huge success 
became known. Hovering above the crowd was an enormous portrait of the 
party's slain founder, whom leftist political opponents and news outlets 
had called a racist and a fascist.

"I'm very moved that we are celebrating this without Pim," said Ferry 
Hoogendijk, one of his followers who won a seat. "This was his work."
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jackl