The man who confessed to killing Dutch politician Pim Fortuyn today told a court he did it to protect the country’s muslim minority from Fortuyn’s anti-immigration policies.

THE Netherlands is set for a cliff-hanging general election today. A year ago, a dapper gay populist who railed against immigrants in general and Muslims in particular and then was shot to death in a car-park nine days before elections.

Dutch opposition parties were the big winners in today’s elections, exit polls showed, including Christian Democrats and the movement of a murdered populist candidate.

Dutch political leaders were today considering delaying the May 15 general elections following the assassination of far-right political leader Pim Fortuyn, whose party was set to win up to 28 of the 150 parliamentary seats.