Dutch election goes ahead after assassination

The Dutch elections will go ahead on May 15 as scheduled, despite the assassination of right-wing leader Pim Fortuyn, the government announced today.

’’It would be sensible not to change the original date,’’ Prime Minister Wim Kok said in a nationally televised address after talks with officials from all parties, including Fortuyn’s.

The government had considered postponing the vote after Fortuyn was gunned down yesterday in Hilversum, 12 miles from Amsterdam, after giving a radio interview.

Kok did not say whether all parties favoured holding the vote next week.

‘‘Of course we took into serious consideration what we heard from Pim Fortuyn’s List (his party), but also the opinions of the other political parties,’’ he said.

Minutes after making the announcement, Kok led a minute’s silence in the Upper House of Parliament in memory of the murdered politician.

’’A dark shadow has fallen over the Netherlands that has given way to deep emotions,’’ he said.

Pym’s party, which was forecast to win up to 28 of the 150 seats in the Dutch parliament, recommended the government proceed with the election as planned, saying that is what their late leader would have wanted.

‘‘Pim loved democracy and elections, It is in the best interests of everyone that the election should be held,’’ said Mat Herben, after meeting Kok.

Political observers said his assassination would help boost the party’s share of the vote.

Police have arrested a 32-year-old white Dutchman but they did not release his name or a suspected motive.

The man, from Harderwijk, about 30 miles east of Amsterdam, refused to give a statement.

A search of his home turned up literature on environmental issues and ammunition that matched the calibre of the handgun used to kill Fortuyn.

Police said he would be transferred from Hilversum, where the murder took place, to Amsterdam for an arraignment tomorrow.

Fortuyn’s party, named Pim Fortuyn’s List after the 54-year-old, said it would name a new leader today, but there appeared to be no obvious candidate.

An openly gay former academic and columnist, Fortuyn stormed onto the political stage in March when his party won 35% of the vote in local elections in Rotterdam, a port with a large immigrant population.

His success led other parties to pledge to re-examine the country’s generous refugee policy.

About one person in eight comes from a non-Dutch background, and nearly half of those come from Islamic countries.

Fortuyn called Islam a ‘‘backward’’ culture and said the Netherlands should reconsider its law guaranteeing freedom from discrimination.

Thousands of mourners in Rotterdam, his home town, left flowers, candles and handwritten notes outside his house.

The city hall stayed open through the night so people could write tributes in a public register.

Police arrested 20 Fortuyn supporters, many of them local football fans, after riots broke out in The Hague.

Several hundred protesters gathered in the city’s main square, next to parliament, where they chanted ‘‘murders, murders,’’ smashed windows and burned cars.

Police dispersed the crowds with water cannons.

‘‘Pim was not an extremist,’’ said truck driver Leslie Gonggeyp, protesting outside parliament.

‘‘He wanted to do something for the working class to save us from taxes and do something for the normal people and not for the immigrants.’’

The murder was the first assassination in modern Dutch history, and sent shock waves across the

country, where most political leaders go without bodyguards and many ride public transportation.

‘‘These are things you thought were just not possible in the Netherlands. It is a low-point for our democracy.’’ said Melkert.

‘‘Respect for each other means you fight with words, not bullets,’’ said Kok, the outgoing prime minister. ‘‘What has happened here is indescribable.’’

Fortuyn occasionally used bodyguards, but his lawyer said he could not afford 24 hour protection.

He had expressed fears for his safety after protesters threw two urine-laced cream pies in his face a few weeks ago.

But in the radio interview minutes before his death, he was asked how long he expected to live and said, ‘‘I’m not going to die soon. I’m going to live to be 87.’’