Livable Rotterdam
| Livable Rotterdam Leefbaar Rotterdam | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Leader |
Pim Fortuyn (2001-2002) † Ronald Sørensen (2002-2010) Dick van Sluis (2010-) |
| Founded | 2001 |
| Headquarters | Rotterdam |
| Ideology |
Conservative liberalism Fortuynism |
| Political position | Right-wing |
| Colours | Green & Black |
| Website | |
| LeefbaarRotterdam.nl | |
|
Politics of the Netherlands Political parties Elections | |
Livable Rotterdam (Leefbaar Rotterdam) is a political party in the large Dutch city of Rotterdam, which was founded by Ronald Sørensen. It won the council elections of March 2002 due to the charismatic leadership of Pim Fortuyn. This made it the city's largest political party, a position held for 30 years by PvdA (Labour Party). Leefbaar Rotterdam started as a spin-off of the national party Leefbaar Nederland but is commonly seen as the local party of the LPF (Lijst Pim Fortuyn), the national party of Pim Fortuyn which was founded just after Pim Fortuyn was fired as lijsttrekker of the Leefbaar Nederland party in spring 2002.
The party consists of a large number of members that are new to politics and were attracted to Fortuyn's dreams of political change. The party attracts attention and criticism for the upfront behavior of its members and its unconventional, if sometimes right-leaning vision, especially on issues of immigration and inter-culture tolerance. This has resulted in numerous splits in the faction since 2002. Nieuw Rechts was an example of this.
In the municipal elections of March 7, 2006 Leefbaar Rotterdam lost 5%, dropping to 29,7% of their votes and PvdA gained 15%, making the latter the biggest party again, with 37,4% of the votes. Before the elections, Leefbaar Rotterdam declared it would not enter in a coalition with PvdA and several members even declared that, irrespective of the coalition, they would leave the council if PvdA would become the biggest party (which has happened).
After the municipal elections of March 3, 2010 the Public Prosecutor in Rotterdam launched an investigation into how proxy votes were solicited by the party, after an e-mail emerged in which one of the party’s councelors gives tips on how to accumulate these. Ronald Buijt wrote that he had 50 reliable citizens of the city who could take the proxy votes to the polling stations. The electoral council said this went against the spirit of proxy voting, which should only be used at the initiative of the voter. This irregularity was added to a litany of complaints against the poll in Rotterdam in these elections (many of which were caused by the PvdA), which resulted in a recount of all the votes cast. The PvdA only beat Leefbaar Rotterdam by a mere 650 votes, yet both parties now have 14 seats in the city council.[1][2]
Joost Eerdmans was elected lijsttrekker of Leefbaar Rotterdam on October 6, 2013.[3]
References
- ↑ "Rotterdam to investigate proxy voting"
- ↑ "After Florida and Harare, a recount in Rotterdam"
- ↑ (Dutch) Joost Eerdmans lijsttrekker van Leefbaar Rotterdam, LeefbaarRotterdam.nl, October 6, 2013
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