of Fortuyn and the CDA. The cabinet fell shortly. After the 2003 elections the D66 replaced the LPF. The centre-right cabinet implemented reforms of the welfare state and oversaw declining migration figures. Migration and integration and especially the place of the Islam in the Netherlands, however, remained controversial issues. In 2003 the VVD had invited social-democratic critic of Islam, Ayaan Hirsi Ali to join their parliamentary party. She together with MP Geert Wilders caused considerable controversy with her direct criticism of the Islam. In the cabinet VVD minister Rita Verdonk sought to limit migration and stimulate integration of minorities. Two years after Fortuyn's assassination, another murder, this time of filmmaker Theo van Gogh, put the country's liberal tradition at further risk. In 2004 Geert Wilders left the VVD to form the Party for Freedom, which combined uncompromising criticism of Islam with a plea for lower taxation and skepticism towards European integration. In 2006 a conflict between Hirsi Ali and Verdonk over her status as an asylum seeker caused the downfall of the cabinet after D66 had revoked its confidence of Verdonk, whose positions on migration the party had already distanced itself from. In the 2006 general election the VVD and D66 lost considerably: D66 lost three of its six seats, the VVD six of its 28 seats. Wilders' PVV won nine seats. Rita Verdonk, second on the list of the VVD won more preference votes than the party's top candidate Mark Rutte. After demanding the leadership of the party, Verdonk left the VVD to form her own nationalist party, Proud of the Netherlands. In the European Parliament election of 2009, the VVD and D66 both won 3 seats each, while PVV picked up 4 seats. The PVV was assigned the additional seat that went to the Netherlands after the Treaty of Lisbon was signed. The VVD and D66 joined the Liberal fraction in the European Parliament, while the PVV did not register as member of any fraction. In the 2010 general election the VVD returned to previous strength and became the largest party the first time in history with 31 seats, leading to a liberal-led coalition for the first time since 1918. Also D66 increased their number of seats to 10. Ultimately, the VVD opted for a coalition with the CDA, with VVD leader Mark Rutte as prime minister—the first liberal to hold the post since 1918. Individual Liberal Parties