Pim Fortuyn
Wilhelmus Simon Petrus Fortuijn, known as Pim Fortuyn (Dutch: [ˈpɪm fɔrˈtœyn] ( listen); 19 February 1948 – 6 May 2002), was a Dutch politician, civil servant, sociologist, author and professor who formed his own party, Pim Fortuyn List (Lijst Pim Fortuyn or LPF) in 2002. Fortuyn provoked controversy with his stated views about multiculturalism, immigration and Islam in the Netherlands. He called Islam "a backward culture", and said that if it were legally possible he would close the borders for Muslim immigrants. He was labelled a far-right populist by his opponents and in the media, but he fiercely rejected this label. Fortuyn explicitly distanced himself from "far-right" politicians such as the Belgian Filip Dewinter, the Austrian Jörg Haider, or Frenchman Jean-Marie Le Pen whenever compared to them. While he compared his own politics to centre-right politicians such as Silvio Berlusconi of Italy, he also admired former Dutch Prime Minister Joop den Uyl, a social democrat, and Democratic U.S. president John F. Kennedy. Fortuyn also criticised the Polder model and the policies of the outgoing government of Wim Kok and repeatedly described himself and LPF's ideology as pragmatism and not populism. Fortuyn was openly homosexual. Fortuyn was assassinated during the 2002 Dutch national election campaign by Volkert van der Graaf. In court at his trial, Van der Graaf said he murdered Fortuyn to stop him from exploiting Muslims as "scapegoats" and targeting "the weak members of society" in seeking political power.