00:06: The Palazzo di Pietro is currently the most visited place in Rotterdam. The international media are dying to carry out an interview with the Netherlands’ most famous politician – Pim Fortuyn.

00:34: He confidently parades his family crest to journalists from the Financial Times. Luck is to bring them happiness – after all his name is Fortuyn. The former sociology professor at Erasmus University, and later journalist and consultant, enjoys talking to the media and knows how to use them in an election campaign. He doesn’t do public appearances anymore – he has been the victim of a custard pie in the past. The confident egomaniac doesn’t want to expose himself to such embarrassment anymore. He managed to secure his party 35% of the vote in the Rotterdam elections in March with a right-wing populist program that focused on high crime rates and immigration. But Fortuyn does not like to be called a right-wing populist or comparisons with Le Pen.

01:22: Fortuyn: I am what I am – I am Pim Fortuyn. A former university professor at the Erasmus University of Rotterdam with his own programme. I don’t need any role models.

01:32: Interviewer: You have called Islam as “backward religion”. What do you think must be done to be able to cooperate with these people?

01:43: Fortuyn: It has caused quite a stir, but it’s a backward culture and I stand by that. Looking at the modern world, our culture, Western and American culture – it is highly developed and we have a separation of church and state. For us, individual responsibility is more important than collective responsibility. We have equality between men and women, we respect human rights, democracy and freedom of expression. Scientifically and economically we are highly developed. If you hold Islamic culture to that standard, it doesn’t hit the mark. And that’s a problem.

02:51: Rotterdam is a city of contrasts. It is a rich city that benefits from the one of the largest ports in the world. It has 600,000 inhabitants, half of them non-natives, or as the politically correct say, the “New Dutch”. Many who have lived here for decades no longer feel at home or safe.

03:20: For example this 70-year-old Rotterdamer. People are regularly mugged in the evening, and people daren’t walk out at night. The citizens’ insecurity hit the Social Democrats hard – they lost all posts on the city council.

03:36: Speaker 1: This made many citizens feel unsafe and Pim Fortuyn benefited in an ingenious way, leading to a landslide in the Dutch and Rotterdam elections.

04:11: Even though the police are present at every train station, they don’t make citizens feel safe. In the Kralingen district robberies and raids are the norm. Most perpetrators are the so-called non-natives.

04:34: Suddenly a robber appeared in the shop with a pistol. He already had his hand in the cash register, says this pharmacist. He took down the man and was injured. The culprit escaped and hasn’t been found to this day.

04:50: Almost every day there are incidents like this because the police are not reacting fast enough. This beer seller without further ado armed himself with club that always does the job. If necessary, he hits robbers with beer bottles. He is not afraid and defends himself, even if his actions are illegal. Integration rather than newcomers is the motto of Pim Fortuyn. So men who want bring brides from Morocco or Turkey have to pay for it.

05:22: Fortuyn: It would make it more difficult. They should pay because 40% of these marriages are over after two years. The women stay of course, and the men should pay for that. If someone can’t pay for his wife to come over than that’s tough. It can’t be banned outright because there are international treaties, but you can make it more difficult.

05:57: Pim Fortuyn has broken all the taboos of Dutch politics. Consensus is out, confrontation is in. He is popular among both the youth and the over-50s. This is backed up by the renowned newspaper Handelsblatt.

06:14: He is a media star, he has hype, and this can be seen on every TV appearance with his opponents. Here his is with Art Melkert from the Social Democrats. Politics is an issue that gets people fired up.

06:32: Speaker 2: The polls are a new record in Dutch politics. The latest polls show him at 15-20%. This is far from a majority, but he is taking away votes from other parties. A coalition won’t be possible without Fortuyn.

07:05: The Dutch could lose their reputation of tolerance and liberalism when Pim Fortuyn moves to parliament in the Hague. He is an open-minded homosexual. And that’s no disadvantage politically in liberal Holland. Only last week the University of Utrecht conducted a study on the voting behaviour of homosexuals. 24% would vote for Fortuyn. Some find that he is making politics interesting again, and even watch TV debates. Other think he is a dangerous idiot who shouldn’t be in parliament due to his many prejudices.

Some think he is just in it for power, had no depth and is very dangerous. Professor Fortuyn, only recently a politician, wants to go to the top. If his party doesn’t get more than six seats in parliament, he’ll do the same again/

08:06: Fortuyn: I only want to be Prime Minister, and failing that, the group chairman.

08:13: One thing he has achieved is creating a Dutch society more polarized than ever. Turnout is predicted to be higher than four years ago – either because they support or abhor this politician.